Believe It
by LBIGreyhound13
Summary: Takes place right after the movie. Jack is happy that he has found out who he was and who he is meant to be, and he is grateful for that. However, he's been on his own for 300 years. And the Guardians soon realize how 300 years of solitude can leave a person with many scars and trust issues and how easy it is for that person to be manipulated.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Alright, guys! As promised, this is my first multi-chapter ROTG fanfic, _Believe It. _This takes place right after the movie and mostly centers around the father/son relationship between Jack and North. You'll see why that is as the story goes on. Hope you all like this one!

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own **_**Rise of the Guardians.**_

* * *

Chapter 1

_My name is Jack Frost, and I'm a Guardian. How do I know that? The Moon told me so, so when the Moon tells you something…believe it._

* * *

Jack Frost, the newest Guardian…the Guardian of Fun watched the little snowflake that he created fall down to Jamie and his friends in the city of Burgess that continued to grow smaller and smaller by the minute. He was a little sad to be leaving the city that he called home for so long, yet the radiant smile never once left his face as he sat on the back of Nicholas St. North's sleigh. He had never felt so happy in his life, and why wouldn't he? After 300 years, his life finally changed for the better. He finally found his purpose…his reason for existing and who he was before he became Jack Frost, and that was not all.

When the snowflake, the children, and Burgess itself finally disappeared, the young winter spirit gave the world below him one last look. Then he turned away to look at Baby Tooth on his right shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled in return. Finally, he turned around to face the four other immortals in the sleigh…North, E. Aster Bunnymund, Toothiana, and Sanderson Mansnoozie, the four veteran Guardians of Childhood, also known as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman. His smile grew even wider as he watched Bunny trying his best to hide his fear of flying and to look as relaxed as possible, Tooth and Sandy engaging in conversation, and finally North driving the sleigh.

Now Jack was sure that his face was hurting from the huge smile that still refused to leave his face. The four of these immortals…or the Big Four as he liked to call them…were now his new friends. After 300 years, he finally found people who took the time to get to know him and to care about him as he did with them in return. It only took a few days of battling the Boogeyman for their friendships to get started after being forced to work together, but that didn't matter to Jack. All that mattered was that they all took these past few days and work together to become closer friends…maybe even a family… The Guardian of Fun quickly shook his head at that last thought.

"_Baby steps, Frost, baby steps,"_ he thought to himself.

"Oi, Frost," an Australian accented voice suddenly said jolting Jack back into reality. The teen looked down from where he sat and saw Bunny giving an inquisitive look. "You okay?"

Jack gave a confused look at the 6'I'' rabbit. "Yeah, I'm okay," he said not sure as to what gave Bunny the idea that something was bugging him. "Why?"

"Nah, you just looked really distracted," the Pooka replied. "Something on your mind?"

"No, no, I was just…spacing out, I guess," Jack said as he moved from his spot on the rim of North's sleigh and down next to Bunny. "I'm a little tired."

"Are you sure, Jack?" a Russian voice suddenly asked making the Pooka and the teen turn to see North, Tooth, and Sandy all looking at Jack with concerned looks on their faces.

"Y-Yeah," Jack replied getting a little uncomfortable with all five pairs of eyes, including Baby Tooth and Bunny, staring at him. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'm just tired. That's all. I mean, come on, can you blame me? Fighting the Boogeyman for two…three days straight takes a lot out of a guy."

He wasn't lying completely. Everything he and his fellow Guardians went through was no walk in the park, especially when he unleashed all that power on Pitch after Sandy's "death," but he also didn't feel like pouring his heart and soul out to North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy about how happy he was at the moment and how this was the greatest day of his life just yet. He wasn't sure how they would react. Would they just laugh at him? Would it not matter to them? Would they suddenly turn him away again? Would this whole ordeal turn out to be fake somehow? Jack didn't know, and at the moment, he decided not to worry about it. All he was going to do was just enjoy everything in the moment with his new friends regardless of what he feared might happen, and if that meant not opening up, right now, then so be it.

Bunny raised his furry eyebrow at Jack not sure whether or not he should actually believe his words. Then again, the Guardian of Hope figured it was best to not push Jack. They had just finished a huge battle and did need to recuperate for a while. Not only that, but Jack was probably not too keen on sharing anything personal with them after just meeting the Guardians two days ago and getting cast out by them when they thought he betrayed them to Pitch not too long ago. While Bunny was still devastated that his holiday was ruined, he still remembered the pained look on Jack's face when he, North, and Tooth sent him away, but the Pooka refused to think about that now. There was no time to focus on that. They had to get some rest and relaxation and to celebrate their victory and Jack's induction.

Bunny's suspicious look turned into a soft smile. "Well, tell you what, why don't we all get some shut-eye when we get back to the Pole?"

"Excellent idea, Bunny!" North added seemingly catching onto Bunny's attempts to break the tension. "We will have yetis prepare for our feast while we Guardians rest up. I'm sure we all need it."

As the big man's fellow Guardians exchanged words of agreement, he took out of the many snow globes that were tucked away into his coat pockets. He gently shook it and whispered, "North Pole," into it. Then, he threw it in front of the reindeer causing a rainbow vortex to form in mid-air. North snapped the reigns commanding the reindeer to fly faster before the portal closed on them, and within seconds, they were flying over the snowy and icy Artic regions.

Jack chuckled to himself as he leaned back against the back of the sleigh cradling his staff to his front with Baby Tooth still on his shoulder. He smirked at the small fairy and whispered, "That is _never _getting old," referring to North's trick. Baby Tooth chirped a small giggle in reply.

The sleigh reached North's extravagant palace, also known as the Pole, and the Guardians quickly were greeted with cheers and applause from yetis and elves alike. Somewhere among the noise, as they all jumped out of the sleigh and made their way inside the workshop, Jack could have sworn he heard an elf playing the fanfare on the trumpet. It was amazing! Not once had somebody turned him away for messing something up, and he was praying really hard again that it wasn't just a hallucination or a really amazing dream. It had to be real. It just had to be.

"Phil, you and other yetis," North suddenly bellowed to the head yeti as he placed a hand on Jack's shoulder causing Jack to jolt back into reality again. He had forgotten North was right next to him, "start preparing a feast for my fellow Guardians and me! We have much to celebrate!"

Phil garbled an affirmation and turned back to a few of the other yetis ordering them to head to the kitchen.

"I'm definitely seeing things because I could've sworn I saw Phil smiling," Jack finally said as they entered the Globe Room, where the Globe of Belief stood once again illuminated with the millions of little lights on every continent.

North laughed at the boy's comment. "Of course, he is smiling," he said in his thick Russian accent. "We are all smiling! We have much to smile about! We defeated Pitch and made _you _an official Guardian!"

Jack let out a huge deep breath looking away from North as he felt his heart pound. "Yeah…a Guardian…me…" he muttered to himself and let out a soft chuckle. "Still pretty unbelievable."

"What was that, Jack?" North asked suddenly growing worried for the newest Guardian again. First, he looked so distracted in the sleigh, and now, he was talking to himself.

However, Jack kept a smile glued to his face as he turned back to North. "Yeah, North," he said, "I'm fine. Really. All I need is some sleep, and I'll be as good as new. Promise."

"Jack, if—" North tried to say.

"What's going on here?" Tooth asked as she, Bunny, and Sandy came up to North and Jack from behind. "Are you two okay?"

"We're fine, Tooth," Jack said before North had the chance to say anything. "Don't worry."

"You really sure, mate?" Bunny asked eyeing Jack again.

"Guys, please, I'm fine. I told you already. It's just been a really long couple days. We just need a little recharging. That's all."

North sighed in defeat promising himself to talk to Jack privately as soon as possible. "Alright," he said, "why don't we all head to my den? I'll have the yetis give us some pillows and blankets."

They all exchanged words of agreement and followed North into the den just down the hall from the Globe Room. It was simple room compared to the extravagant, busy workshop Jack had seen. There was a fireplace with the fire already lit, a red couch, and a chair right across from it. The floor was lined with a soft red rug. The walls on either side of the fireplace contained a few shelves full of old books, and a small clock rested on the mantel. Right across from the door, the Guardians had just entered through, was a large window that looked out onto the snowy region with a small cushioned bench for someone to sit on.

It wasn't long until a yeti finally came in with pillows and blankets for each of the five Guardians. They all took their personal spots in the den. North sat in the big, comfy chair. Bunny made himself comfortable by the fireplace curled up under the blanket. Tooth claimed the couch. Sandy leaned up against one of the legs of the couch with his hands folded neatly on his round stomach, and Jack took a spot next to North's chair but still far enough from the fire. It would've been bad if the fire melted him on the first few hours as a new Guardian. Jack surveyed the sight in front of him. He watched his new friends fall asleep within a matter of seconds. His eyes then fell on Baby Tooth, who had fallen asleep on his pillow. Jack widened his smile as he placed his staff next to him on the floor and shifted so that he was under the blanket. The warmth shocked him as he began to follow his friends to Dream Land. He realized that he was indeed being overdramatic. This was no dream. It had to be real. His life was finally changing for the better. He was a Guardian, now…and nothing was going to convince him otherwise.

* * *

"_Jack…"_

"_Jack…"_

"_Jack!"_

"_Jack!"_

"JACK!"

Jack gasped as he jolted awake catapulting into a sitting position. He was breathing heavily staring off into space completely unaware of what was around him.

"Jack…" He jumped when he felt a small hand on his right shoulder only to come face to face with Tooth, who was looking at him with great concern.

"Tooth…wh-?" Confusion struck Jack as he stared into the gentle amethyst eyes of the Tooth Fairy.

"Jack, are you alright?" a Russian voice suddenly asked from Jack's left.

The winter child turned to face North kneeling down next to him, and he looked just as concerned as Tooth did. Jack then snuck a quick glance behind him only to find Bunny and Sandy both still sound asleep. This made Jack even more confused. Why was he back in the Pole? Wasn't he supposed to be in Burgess?

North became even more worried when Jack didn't answer and just stared at him. He couldn't get over how confused the poor boy looked or the tears streaming down his pale cheeks, so he decided to try again.

"Jack?" North said with more firmness in his voice.

This time, Jack was able to snap out of his trance. "Uh, sorry, what?" he asked.

"Are you alright?" North asked again.

"Uh, yeah…yeah, I'm fine," Jack replied before turning to face Tooth again. "Why would you guys think I wasn't?"

Tooth opened her mouth to answer Jack but quickly closed it again. She then looked at North. The Guardian of Wonder looked the Guardian of Memories in the eye and nodded. She nodded in return and looked at Jack again. "Well, North and I just came back from checking on the lights on the globe, and…when we got back, we saw that you were crying in your sleep." Her heart clenched as she remembered what happened moments ago. She was definitely not used to seeing Jack in that state, but she continued, "Baby Tooth was trying to wake you up, but you wouldn't until we tried to wake you ourselves."

Baby Tooth suddenly flew from her spot on Tooth's shoulder and onto Jack's chirping and looking up at him with the same amount of concern as Tooth's. Jack looked from Tooth, to Baby Tooth, to North, and back to Tooth even more confused. He was never in Burgess. He had been here dreaming and crying in his sleep. That was when he realized that his cheeks felt wet. He brought up a hand to his face and felt the moisture on his cheeks.

"Huh…guess I was crying," he said. "I didn't realize." He then quickly wiped his face dry with his sleeve. "Don't worry about it, Tooth. I'm okay."

Tooth, Baby Tooth, and North all stared at Jack still unconvinced. Nobody said anything as they stared at the winter teen, who was getting more and more uncomfortable with each passing moment. It was sweet relief when North finally took charge and said something.

"Jack, why don't you and I go take a little walk?" the big man said placing a large hand on Jack's skinny shoulder and turning Jack around so that they faced each other. "We'll let everyone else rest for a little while longer before dinner."

The newest Guardian smiled at the leader. "Sure thing," he replied.

* * *

**Author's Note: ** I decided not to include the nightmare because I didn't want things to get too angsty just yet. That'll come later, trust me.

Alright! So, that was the first chapter, everyone! Hope you all liked it because this was honestly the hardest chapter to write mostly because of Jack. He can a really difficult character to write sometimes, and I had a hard time trying to get his character just right, especially when it's right after the movie ends. I know some fanfics that take place right after the movie have him get all upset and angsty yelling at the Guardians and/or running off because he was left alone for 300 years, and I was originally going to go down that route, but as I was writing this, I began to doubt if that's how he would actually act, especially toward the Guardians. So, I watched the movie again, and I realized how happy Jack was at the end. And who could blame him? He finally got children to see him. The Guardians accepted him. He found out who he was before becoming Jack Frost and that he really was meant to be a Guardian! So, I began to doubt if Jack would actually get so upset after all that.

Okay, yeah, he was left alone for 300 years, and the Guardians clearly didn't help with that. Not to mention that three of them had the nerve to cast him out when they accused him of betraying them, but he really does not seem like someone who would get that upset over it or hold a grudge. And he showed no signs of anger or sadness or even resentment at the end. No, he was happy, and if anything else, he looked relieved too…relieved that he had people who could see him and friends who accepted him, which made me think that he would at least have some doubts…you know if he can actually talk to them…and whether or not it was really happening and not some dream, but I'll go into more detail about that as the story goes on, which I hopefully can post soon. I'm going to try to post once a week, but with school going on and the end of the semester being so close, I can't really make promises.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you thought! Thanks, guys!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **I'm back! And let me just say…WOW! Just…just…WOW! I honestly did not expect the first chapter to get as many favorites, followers, and reviews as it did! Thank you so much, guys! Knowing you guys already enjoyed the first chapter gave me even more motivation to continue the story! You guys are awesome, so thank you to everyone who followed and favorited the story! Also, I usually individually reply to the reviews via PM, but since this is a multi-chapter fic, I figured it would be best if I posted the review replies here in the AN. If you want to talk about the story individually, just send me a PM, and I would be more than happy to respond! So…here are the replies:

**Wierdsquirrelgirl: Lol! I'm glad you liked it! Hope you like what I have coming next!**

**Courageous Dreamer: WOW! Thank you so much! I can't wait for you to read the rest!**

**Snowflake the Pooka: Thanks! Hope you like the rest!**

**AngetianPrincess18: Exactly! You really nailed it in the head there! Jack does not know these immortals that well, so he does not know how they would act toward him when they're not fighting evil and if how they feel about him is for real. Like I said in the last chapter, three of them thought he betrayed them without listening to him, and we don't exactly know how often they met or even talked to each other prior to the movie's events, but we can assume it was not enough to put them on friendly terms meaning they just came across as mere acquaintances…or rivals (*looks at Bunny*). Thank you for your kind words! And I hope you enjoy the rest!**

**AyameKitsune: HAHA! Don't worry! There's more coming! **

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything related to **_**Rise of the Guardians. **_**Trust me, if I did, a sequel would have been out by now.**

* * *

Chapter 2

"What's wrong?" North asked as he closed the door to his office behind him—gently this time to avoid frightening the boy again. It was brief, but ever since the last time Jack was in here just two days ago, the Guardian of Wonder had never actually forgotten the look of fear in Jack's eyes when North approached him the way he did.

Standing near North's workbench with his staff over his right shoulder, Jack looked at North as if the man had grown an extra head. "W-What are you…?" he tried to ask completely caught off guard by North's question.

"I can tell there's something bothering you," North said firmly walking up to Jack with his arms folded across his chest. "Don't even try to lie to me."

"North, I'm not lying," Jack said with a smile. "I told you there was nothing bothering me, really. I'm fine."

"You may have had the others fooled, but I see it all over your face. You obviously had something on your mind when we left Burgess, and just now, Tooth, little fairy, and I catch you crying in your sleep. How can you stand there and look me in the eye when you say you're fine?"

Jack's smile fell as he stared at North. Never once in his life had anyone shown so much determination and interest in knowing what was bothering him, and now, here was North practically begging him to come clean. There was no trickery or deceit. North really wanted to know. He was about to speak, but…he stopped himself.

"I-I-It's stupid," he replied hanging his head down and holding his staff close to his chest. "You don't want to hear it."

North walked toward him closing the gap between them smiling warmly at the boy as he gripped his shoulders again. "Whether it's stupid or not, I _want_ to hear it," he said. "We'll never be a true team…or a family until you open up to us. So, come on, tell me everything."

Jack quickly got over his shock from hearing North say the word "family" and took a deep breath figuring he might as well try to get the burden off his chest. "It's just…I had never felt so happy in my entire life until today," he began, "and it's scaring me so much that I'm starting to think that it's too good to be true." He broke away from North and walked around the office as he poured everything out. "Everything happened so fast. One minute I've been wandering around this world for 300 years not knowing who I was or what I was meant to do. The next I'm being shoved into a sack, tossed through a magic portal, told that I was chosen to be a Guardian, battling the Boogeyman, finding my memories, becoming an official Guardian, getting my first believers ever, becoming friends with you guys…feeling…" Somehow he stopped in front of North trying to think of what to say next as the Guardian of Wonder stared at him. There was no point for him to interrupt Jack until he saw the youngest Guardian stumble on his words.

"Feeling what, Jack?" he asked.

"Feeling like…I'm wanted…needed…accepted…and I guess…it just…feels really overwhelming and…and new. I'm…I'm not used to this, but…" he smiled, "I love every minute of it. I…I don't ever want it to go away, but I feel like at any second, it's all going to when I wake up and all this will turn out to be a dream."

North let out a breath, that he didn't even realize he was holding, as he finally understood. "Is that why you were crying in your sleep? You had a nightmare about all this being a dream?"

Jack brought his head down again and nodded. The silence that followed worried the winter teen as he stared at the floor. He was expecting North to just make fun of him and laugh at him, but nothing came. It was just silent until he heard North sigh, but Jack didn't dare to look up at him.

"Jack, give me your hand," North finally said.

He wasn't expecting that. "Uhhh…" was all Jack could say as he finally looked up at North again staring at the man as if he had grown a third head.

"Just give it to me," North said chuckling at the boy's confusion.

Still staring at North, Jack slowly lifted his hand and held it out to North, who took it into both his beefy hands. Then before Jack could even react, North pinched a small bit of the skin.

"OW!" Jack screamed as he pulled his hand back away from North's grip. Again, he looked at North as if those two extra heads came back as he held his hand to his chest. "What did you do that for?!"

The Guardian of Wonder just smiled at the Guardian of Fun placing his fists on his hips feeling proud of himself. "They say that if you pinch yourself in a dream, then you will wake up. I just pinched your hand, so…" he looked around the office and opened his arms before turning back to Jack "…does anything look or feel different?"

The Guardian of Fun looked all around the office and back at North smiling when he finally realized what North was trying to tell him. "No…no, it's all the same," he said.

"Well, then, you have nothing to be afraid of," North said with an even bigger smile. His face turned serious again, and he bent down and grabbed both of Jack's shoulders. "This isn't a dream, Jack. It's very much real. We did just defeat Pitch, and you _are _a Guardian."

Jack's smile faltered as well. "Then why did it feel like it was?"

North sighed. "Because like you just said," he began, "you were alone for 300 years. It's a pretty big change for you, but I can promise you that that part of your life is all over now. You're no longer alone. You are one of us…a Guardian, and that makes you part of our team…our family. We will always be there for you."

Jack couldn't believe it. North used that word again…family… He really was accepted and wanted by North and the other Guardians. His look of shock turned into a smile again. Although, the smile still had a touch of skeptic to it. "You really promise?" he asked.

"I promise," North replied.

"Thank you, North, and you know that goes double for me. You all were the first friends I've ever had in a long time. I don't ever want that to get ruined."

"It won't."

* * *

North raised his glass. "I would like to propose a toast…" he turned to the winter teen sitting across from him at the round table in the dining room, "…to our victory and…to Jack Frost…our newest Guardian. You have made us very proud today, Jack. Without you, we would not be sitting here right now, and for that, we are eternally grateful to you and your loyalty, bravery, strength, and kind heart. To Jack!"

"To Jack!" Tooth and Bunny repeated in unison while Sandy gave the winter spirit a huge smile as he raised his.

Jack smiled and raised his glass, too, as Baby Tooth nuzzled up against his cheek from her signature spot on his shoulder. "Thanks, guys, I'm touched," he said, "and I really hope I can continue to make you proud of me."

"You don't have to worry about that, mate," Bunny said as he reached over and ruffled Jack's snow-white hair. "We're always going to be proud of you. There's no doubt that Manny made the right choice when he chose you."

Jack smiled at the Pooka. It was hard to believe that this was the same Easter Bunny, who just days ago, made fun of him for not being believed in and sent him away when Easter was ruined, but again, that didn't matter to Jack. That was all in the past, and it was going to be forgotten so that he could focus on what was happening in the present and what would happen in the future. His life was finally changing, and he planned on taking advantage of it. Jack did make sure that North kept their conversation between them, which made it easier for them to make a clean slate.

* * *

After the feast, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy unfortunately realized that it was time to break up the crowd and to head home. They each said their goodbyes and left the Pole leaving Jack and North behind. Not wanting to end the happiest day of his life too soon, Jack was just fine with spending the rest of the day with North. Luckily, thanks to the talk they had earlier, North was more than willing to keep the winter boy company. Well…that…and he actually didn't want the boy to leave just yet. He wasn't sure if it was because the two of them were able to connect so easily or what, but he didn't care. They both enjoyed each other's company, and that was all that mattered. So, they decided to spend the day in North's workshop watching the yetis hustle around trying to get everything back on schedule for Christmas. When Pitch broke into the Pole for the second time, the yetis had actually thought it was all over for them and their master, so they stopped making toys until the Globe suddenly began to glow again during the final battle.

Though Jack was hesitant at first, North insisted that the newest Guardian could walk around with him and watch the yetis. The oldest Guardian beamed from ear to ear as he watched Jack's eyes glow with wonder and listened to his limitless list of questions answering them left and right.

"So, if the elves don't make the toys," Jack asked as they walked narrowly dodging a few passing yetis carrying the finished products out of the shop, "then why do kids believe that they do?"

"Hmm…" North responded with a pondering look on his face, "you know, I'm not entirely sure, my boy. It's just always been part of the legend, or perhaps, parents don't like to their children that abominable snowmen do all the work."

"Ah…yeah, that's probably for the best. I can see how well _that _conversation would go. 'Hey, kids, guess what! Santa's elves don't make the toys! His yetis do!'"

North laughed out loud as he signed another one of the many papers a passing yeti held out to him.

"You know, I saw a lot of ice sculptures on the tables with the toys," Jack finally said slinging his staff over his shoulder trying to keep up with North. "Who makes those?"

"Well, I do," North replied.

Jack turned to North with his jaw dropped and eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Of course, how else would the yetis know what to build and how to build?"

"Makes sense, but, still, they're really good!"

"Thank you, Jack." Then North had an idea. "How would you like it if I taught you how to make them?"

"What?" Jack would be lying if he said that he saw that question coming.

"How about I teach you how to make ice sculptures? We can do it right now."

Now, Jack was sure that this wasn't real. North was just offering to teach him something. No one had ever offered to teach him something. The only being who ever took the time to teach him was the Wind, but not even that was the same as having someone in the flesh.

"But…but what about the workshop?" Jack finally asked overcoming the brief moment of shock and frowning. "I mean…aren't you busy right now?"

"Don't worry about it," North replied with a smile and a hand on Jack's shoulder. "The yetis can handle themselves for a little while. Is no big deal. Come on, let's go to my office."

The Guardian of Fun would have protested more, but he decided against it figuring it was best to take advantage of the opportunity.

* * *

North and Jack spent the entire day in North's office. Fortunately, there seemed to be no problems in the workshop, so none of the yetis bothered the winter Guardians, which worked out wonderfully because Jack and North were having the time of their immortal lives. They weren't doing anything crazy. All they did was make ice sculptures for the yetis to use to make the toys. Jack managed to pick up on North's lessons very quickly and loved the activity just as much as North loved teaching the boy.

By the end of the day, Jack learned how to sculpt a train, an airplane, a dollhouse, a rocket ship, and a racecar. After a quiet, yet fun day, they both sat by the fireplace in North's den again chowing down on some cookies and milk while having a pleasant conversation until it got quiet again. It wasn't because the moment turned awkward. In fact, it was only because North was contemplating on the one question that had been bothering him all day.

"Jack, where do you live?" the big man suddenly asked from the chair he sat in.

From where he lied on the couch, Jack took a sip from his milk and wiped the milk mustache off his upper lip before answering. "At the lake," the boy replied nonchalantly, "where you inducted me into the Guardians."

North furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. "Really?" he asked clearly not expecting that as an answer. "I don't remember seeing any house or any type of dwelling for a winter spirit there."

"Well, the lake was where the Moon made me Jack Frost, so it was the only place I ever really knew. Plus, I was never one for being indoors. I don't know why, but I always loved being out in the open, traveling, and coming back to the lake whenever I wanted."

"I see." He stared into his half-full glass of milk completely perplexed by what the winter teen just said. For 300 years, the boy had no memories, no family, and…no home. True, he had the lake, and he seemed content. Then again, if there was one thing North learned over the past few days, it was that Jack Frost knew how to throw one surprise after another. One never knew what he would throw at you next. However that only raised another question in Santa's mind. How could he have not seen how alone and lost Jack was before now?

Jack seemed to read North's mind and chuckled. "North, it's no big deal," he said. "I managed for 300 years. I can manage 300 more."

"_Not if I can help it," _North thought to himself.

"Jack, I want you to stay with me," he said out loud.

"What?" Jack replied as he shot up from his spot on the couch.

North mentally kicked himself for not thinking before he spoke, but thankfully, he was able to recover before scaring Jack away. "I-I was wondering if you would want to stay here at the Pole with me…for the night," he finally said.

Thankfully, Jack didn't question what he said a moment ago, but he shook his head. "Oh, North, I couldn't do that," he said. "You already let me stay the whole day."

"Is no problem," North said as he stood up and walked over to Jack and sat down next to him. "We have plenty of rooms here. Besides, you must still be exhausted, and I don't think you should be flying all the way back to Burgess now. Please, Jack, it would make me feel better knowing you got enough sleep after our big battle."

Jack sighed in defeat knowing that this was a losing battle. If North was so willing to find out what was bothering him, then there was no way he was going to let him leave. Not that he wanted to leave. He loved North's company, but still…he really hated the idea of overstepping boundaries too soon.

"Okay, just for tonight," he said.

* * *

Later that night, Jack picked one of the many guest rooms that were just down the hall from North's bedroom. The room was simple. It was about the same size as the den with a queen-sized bed in the middle of the room, a large window on the back wall, a white night table, a white dresser in the far left-hand corner, and another door leading to the bathroom. Jack settled in under the plain white covers that lined the bed. Although, North couldn't help but notice how the idea of sleeping in a bed seemed somewhat foreign to him, but he didn't bother bringing it up. It was getting late, and they both needed a good night's sleep.

"Are you comfortable?" North finally asked.

"Actually, yeah, I am," Jack replied smiling at the Guardian of Wonder. "Uh…thanks for letting me stay here tonight."

North smiled as he pulled the covers over Jack's shoulders. "You're welcome," he said. "I'm right down the hall if you need me."

"Okay," Jack replied as sleep began to take over him.

"Good night, Jack."

"Good night, North."

As he left the room, North could've sworn that for a split second he felt like a father…Jack's father. He had that feeling before when he first brought Jack to his office to talk to him about his center, when they talked after Sandy's death, and just today when they talked again in his office and worked on those ice sculptures together.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well, that seems to be enough feels to throw at you…for now… (evilly smirks). Trust me, there's more coming. Just so you know, the next one or two chapters will be Jack starting to adjust to his new life before things start to really heat up. So, please leave a review, or follow, or favorite, or do all three! Whatever floats your boat! Thanks again, guys! Be on the look out for Chapter 3! Just a word of warning, though, things are starting to get crazy here at school with the end of the semester approaching, so I'm not sure I'll be able to get Chapter 3 up until the week after. I have a big paper and a project that I really need to get started on, so just so you know, if there's no new chapter next week, that's why. Don't worry. I will not stop until all the stories I have planned are completely finished.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the late update, guys! You know how school can be…grrr… ANYWAY, I know why you're here! You're here for Chapter 3! Well, here it is! Hope you all like it! Here are the review replies for the last chapter!

**Firenze Fox: Thank you very much! You can never have too much fluff! I'm really glad you liked how I had the characters portrayed! I was a little worried if they were OOC. I hope you like what comes next. **

**Snowflake the Pooka: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it and hope you continue to enjoy it!**

**Sauara: Yeah, me too! When you've been alone as long as Jack has, you would probably have trouble adjusting to your new life right away.**

**Wierdsquirrelgirl: Thank you! Yeah, I like guilt trip stories too! Yeah, in a way, they kind of did screw him over, but hopefully, they will learn their lesson.**

**AyameKitsune: Thank you! I'm glad you like it! And you shall have more!**

**Disclaimer: I still do NOT own **_**Rise of the Guardians.**_

* * *

Chapter 3

The next morning, Jack thanked North for his hospitality promising to come back for a visit anytime. He would've stayed longer, but he really wanted to spend more time getting to know his fellow Guardians and help them recover from Pitch's attacks. North agreed and encouraged Jack to go. He knew it was a good idea for Jack to adjust to his new life with his new friends, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't going to miss having Jack all to himself. Little did he know that Jack felt the same way. Nevertheless, he asked North to open up a portal that led to the Warren for him. The last time Jack went to the Warren with North, Bunny, and Tooth they used Bunny's tunnels, so he wasn't sure of the exact location.

So, once the portal opened, Jack quickly dashed through as he shouted his goodbyes to North over the shoulder.

"Have fun, Jack!" North shouted back to the boy.

Within seconds, Jack found himself in the luscious green Warren, the home of the Easter Bunny. However, he wasn't focusing on the beauty of the eternal spring. Instead, his eyes focused on the many broken eggshells that littered the soft grass. Jack's heart sank as he remembered the Easter disaster that happened just the other day. It was almost as if someone reopened the old wounds thinking back to how he failed the Guardians…all because he fell for Pitch's stupid tricks. Never again will he forget the disappointment and hurt on North, Tooth, and Bunny's faces. He released a huge breath that he didn't even realize he was holding.

"_Oh, Jack, what have you done?"_

"_That is why you weren't here…? You were with Pitch?!"_

"_We should _NEVER _have trusted you!"_

Jack shook his head to get the memory out. He was not going to think about that…not now…not when things were changing. Otherwise, he would never get to move on with North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy. No, it was in the past…forgotten. Well, at least, he knew _he _was trying to forget it. Who's to say that North, Tooth, and Bunny were willing to as well? Sure, they were proud of him for helping them defeat Pitch, but did they truly forgive him? They never actually said that they did.

"Oi, Jack!" an Australian voice suddenly said.

Jack jumped out of his deep thoughts and looked up only to see Bunny hopping toward him.

"Hey, Bunny," he said putting a friendly smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Bunny said with a matching smile.

"I'm sorry for barging in," Jack replied, "but I wanted to come and see how you were doing and…" he looked around with a guilty look on his face, "wanted to see if…you needed help…"

Bunny smiled even wider and placed a gentle paw on Jack's shoulder causing the boy to look up at him. "Sure, I'd appreciate that," he said.

Jack smiled in return.

"Come on," the Pooka said gesturing his head to the mess he was working on before Jack showed up.

Both the Guardian of the Hope and the Guardian of Fun dashed over to the broken eggshells. Bunny didn't even have to tell Jack where to start because the boy immediately crouched down to pick up the pieces with his staff on the ground next to him and put as many as he could in the slowly growing pile in the middle of the area. Not many words were exchanged between the 6'1'' rabbit and the winter teen except for Bunny telling Jack what area they work in next. Neither of them was sure how long they had been cleaning up, but from where the sun was in the sky above the Warren, it was about noon when Jack finally spoke up.

"Hey…uh…Bunny," he finally said as they placed a few more eggshells into another pile.

"Yeah, Jack?" the Pooka replied as he absentmindedly went back to pick up more shells.

Jack took a deep breath before saying what he had wanted so desperately to say for the past day and a half. "I'm sorry," he finally said.

"What?" Bunny asked turning to look at the boy behind him clearly not expecting to hear what he thought he heard.

"I'm sorry…about…" Jack tried to say, "…about what happened on Easter the other day. I really didn't mean for any of that to happen. It's just…"

"Hey, don't worry about it, Frostbite," Bunny replied with a smile. "It's all in the past, now. Everything turned out alright in the end, and you redeemed yourself when you came back to help us fight Pitch. That's more than enough for an apology."

Jack smiled at the Pooka, although he felt sad as well. He was glad that Bunny accepted his apology, but he also felt sad because he was sure that Bunny still thought that he betrayed him, North, and Tooth to Pitch. Not only that, but if Bunny still thought that, then there was a good chance that North and Tooth thought the same. Then again, it also seemed like they forgave him. They never turned him away after the battle or even when they got back to the Pole. North was even willing to listen to what was bothering him, so it had to mean that he was forgiven…even though there was a small part of him that felt like he didn't deserve it despite the fact that he was tricked. Still…Jack wasn't planning on it, but maybe if he explained to Bunny what happened…it could really help their friendship move in the right direction, especially if Bunny believed him.

"Hey…uh…Bunny?" Jack said again looking up at the Pole, who was back to picking up the shells.

"Yeah, Jack?" Bunny asked.

"Uh…never mind…forget it…"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just forget it. It's not important."

"Okay…if you say so."

Jack sighed as he continued to clean. No…he couldn't tell them…not yet anyway…

* * *

Thankfully, Jack was able to forget what happened when he got to the Warren and continued to help Bunny. Surprisingly, they were able to get along the whole day without a single argument. They spent a few more hours cleaning, and with Jack's control over the wind and Bunny's speed, they were able to finish at around 4:00 in the afternoon. Since Easter was over, much to both Guardians' dismay, Bunny didn't need to start working again until the next week, so they spent the rest of the day sitting on the grass right next to the color dye river that ran through the Warren for all the small eggs to jump into.

"So, what did you and North do after we left yesterday?" Bunny asked turning to the winter teen, who was lying down on his back with his arms behind his head.

"Oh, not much," Jack replied. "He showed me around the workshop and how to make his ice sculptures. Then we spent the night talking, and just out of the blue, North offered to let me stay at the Pole for the night."

"Really?" Bunny asked. He wasn't surprised. North always allowed him, Tooth, and Sandy to stay at the Pole whenever they needed to, and the fact that he asked Jack to stay no questions asked just after only knowing him for a few days wasn't news to him either. Just from those few days of fighting Pitch, Bunny had a gut feeling that Jack and North hit it off rather quickly. It actually made him happy that North was continuing to make Jack feel that he's part of the group, but that didn't mean that the others shouldn't try to do the same.

"Yeah, it was weird," Jack replied. "It just came out of nowhere after he asked me where I lived. He even said before I left that I could come back anytime."

"Well, you know, that goes for me, too, mate. You're always welcomed here."

Jack smiled. "Thanks, Bunny."

They were both silent again for a moment until Bunny spoke up again.

"Say, how about a race around the Warren?"

"I say you're on."

* * *

After Jack's day with Bunny, he made his way over to Tooth Palace the very next day to visit Tooth and her mini-fairies, especially Baby Tooth. Before he left the Warren the day before, Bunny gave him directions on how to get to Tooth Palace. After that, Jack used Bunny's tunnels to get back to his lake in Burgess. Long before the whole Guardian ordeal, Jack would've been lonely and downtrodden going back to the lake by himself, but this time was different because he knew he had friends to come back to the next day. He woke up at the crack of dawn and made his way to the Tooth Palace, where he would visit Tooth, Baby Tooth, and the other mini-fairies. Unfortunately, he didn't have North's sleigh to get him there fast enough, but thankfully, he still had his power over the wind to lean on.

Within an hour or so, the home of the Tooth Fairy appeared on the horizon. Even though it had been the second time he had seen it, Jack still could not get over how beautiful it was, and the fact that it wasn't swarmed with nightmares made it even better. Instead, it was swarmed with the mini-fairies coming and going from the palace no doubt collecting teeth and bringing them back to put them in the millions of the memory boxes.

Thinking about all those memory boxes belonging to every single child in the world reminded him of his own memory box that was tucked away in the pocket of his hoodie. He stopped flying in mid-air and reached into his pocket to touch it. He had actually forgotten that he still had it with him. With all the excitement over the battle and trying to get used to all the changes going on, he had forgotten that he actually found who he was…that he had a family…a sister before that night he was risen from the lake, where he died to save his little sister. He gave a small smile, but it turned into a frown when he began to wonder what he was supposed to do with it now. Should he give his memories back? Should he tell Tooth and the others about what he found? How would they all react? Baby Tooth was happy for him when he told her, but…she wasn't there when the others sent him away. What if they would get angry for being so happy about the very object that caused them to lose Easter? Not only that, but if he told them about his memories, that would probably mean that he would have to tell them about his encounters with Pitch, and he wasn't ready for that yet.

Nonetheless, while making a mental note to himself to think about it later, Jack stuffed his box back into the pocket and continued flying over to the palace. When he got there, it actually did not take long to hear Tooth's voice among all the chirping mini-fairies. He followed the queen's voice all the way to one of the many pillars that made up the palace. He found Tooth in the pillar giving out orders to all her fairies. He chuckled to himself and shook his head as he thought back to how much Tooth desperately missed being in the field when they were collecting the teeth. Why was she grounding herself to the palace again when she should be out there seeing the kids?

She was so busy ordering her fairies around that she didn't notice Jack behind her, so he snuck in as quietly as he could without disturbing her or the fairies and placed her hands over her eyes earning a small gasp of fright from the Guardian of Memories.

Jack laughed. "Guess who!" he said playfully keeping his hands over her eyes.

Tooth smiled as soon as she recognized the voice. "Hmm…" she hummed playing along with her new friend, "let's see. It can't possibly be North."

"Nope."

"Or Bunny."

"Uh-uh."

"There's no way it's Sandy."

"That would be really sad if you thought that."

Tooth laughed. "Hmm…could I maybe get a hint?"

"Okay, here's one: the dashing, oh-so-charming winter spirit, a.k.a. the Guardian of Fun."

Tooth gasped. "Oh, of course, Old Man Winter!"

"Hey, who are you calling old?!" Jack shouted as he jumped back taking his hands away from Tooth's eyes with the smile never leaving his face.

"Oh, relax, Jack, I knew it was you," she said smiling at the winter boy. Without any hesitation, she wrapped her arms around Jack's neck pulling him into a hug, and Jack returned the gesture by wrapping his arms around her waist.

He didn't tell her or anyone else, but Jack really loved Tooth's hugs. He felt safe and warm in her arms. It was a beautiful feeling.

"How are you doing?" she finally asked when they broke apart. She didn't have a chance to talk to him at the feast the other day, so she was grateful that he came to visit.

"I'm doing great," Jack said beaming from ear to ear. "North really helped me out when we talked in his office, so don't worry. Everything's fine."

"Well, good, I'm glad," Tooth said, "and you know you can talk to me as well, right?"

"I do. Thanks, Tooth. Now enough about me, I came here to talk about you."

"About me?"

"Yeah, starting with the teeth. Were you guys able to get them back okay?"

"Actually, yes, my fairies were able to get them back safe and sound and back where they belonged."

"Well, that's great. I'm sorry I wasn't around to help."

"Don't worry about it. My fairies took care of everything. In fact, they were almost done when Baby Tooth and I got back from the Pole."

"Speaking of which, where is Baby Tooth?" Jack asked as he looked around at the fairies trying to spot the one with purple and blue eyes and the golden feather.

"I'm not sure," Tooth said joining him. "She should be around here somewhere. Baby Tooth! Baby Tooth! You have a visitor!"

Suddenly, a small blue and green blur flew past Tooth and right up to Jack stopping in front of Jack's face. Jack laughed as the little fairy chirped her greeting.

"Hey, Baby Tooth," he said lifting a finger up to her cheek to nuzzle her. "Good to see you, too."

Baby Tooth chirped her reply and flew onto Jack's shoulder.

"Now that you're here, you can help me with my next question for Tooth," he said.

"What is it?" Tooth asked.

Jack smirked at the Tooth Fairy. "Why are you here when you should be out in the field?"

"What?"

"If I recall correctly, I believe it was you, who said that it's been about 440 years since you've been out there and that you've missed seeing the kids. So, I'm here to tell you to get back out there."

Tooth sighed. "Jack, I know what I said, but I really can't." She suddenly gasped and turned to a group of fairies. "San Diego, sector 18! Head out!" She turned back to Jack as soon as they were gone. "My fairies need me to tell them where to go."

"Well, what if you left someone in charge for a while? Maybe Baby Tooth?" Baby Tooth flew up to her mother telling her that she agreed with Jack. "Come on, Tooth, Jack continued. "Just for an hour or two. It'll be good for you, and then you can come right back. I'll even go with you if you want."

Tooth looked from Jack back to Baby Tooth. "Are you sure you can handle it for a little while?" Both fairies remembered what happened last time Tooth left her palace unattended, but they also knew that being scared for the rest of their lives would mean that Pitch had won that battle, and that was the last thing they wanted.

Baby Tooth nodded chirping an affirmation.

Tooth smiled at her and then at Jack. "Alright, one hour."

"Yes!"

* * *

It was amazing at how much teeth-collecting Jack and Tooth could accomplish in one hour. Then again, it was Jack's idea to turn it into another race with just the two of them, which really seemed to help pass the time. They actually covered a good portion of Russia in that time frame, and they had a great time together racing to see who could get the most teeth…and leave the gifts before the hour was up leaving Tooth as the victor for this round. After Tooth did a little victory dance, she and Jack flew back to the Tooth Palace, where they found Baby Tooth having little to no trouble giving out orders to her sisters.

"Looks like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Jack said as they flew up to the pillar.

Tooth laughed as she gently patted Jack on the shoulder. "Well, thank you for a great race, Jack," she said. "I had a wonderful time."

"I did, too," he replied. "Hey, how about we go again in a few hours?"

"Sure, until then, why don't you take Baby Tooth and take a break?"

Jack smiled even wider. "Good idea." He then called out to the little fairy, "Come on, Baby Tooth."

Baby Tooth smiled and quickly chirped a thank you to Tooth before flying off with Jack. Thinking it would be a good idea to stay close to the palace, they flew down to where the mural of Tooth and her fairies giving the memories to the humans in need of their help was. Jack saw the mural and smiled at it realizing that it was no longer fading away from the lack of belief. It was back to its former glory…almost as if Pitch's influence had never touched it. Jack sighed in content as he took a seat in the grass next to the small pool under the shade of the trees.

"It's nice to see things back to normal, huh?" Jack said to Baby Tooth, who was floating next to him in mid-air.

Baby Tooth nodded with a huge smile on her face, but her smile faded away into a frown. She placed herself on Jack's shoulder again and chirped what sounded like a question.

"You want to know how I'm doing?" Jack asked.

Baby Tooth nodded while a look of concern never left her face.

Jack chuckled. "Baby Tooth, I'm fine, really," he said. "North really helped me out the other day. Honest."

Baby Tooth smiled again when she saw that her best friend was telling the truth. She then jumped into Jack's pocket and pulled out the memory box. Then she pointed up to where Tooth was in the palace. It took Jack a minute to decipher what she was saying.

"Have I told Tooth about my memories?"

Baby Tooth nodded.

Jack sighed. "No, I haven't told her or the other Guardians yet, and I don't think I will for a while."

Now, Baby Tooth was confused. Jack was so excited about getting his memories back. Why would he not want to tell the other Guardians about them? She turned her head to the side and gave Jack a questioning look.

"Well, see, the thing is, Baby Tooth, that after the whole thing in Pitch's lair, Easter was completely destroyed." Baby Tooth put her hands to her mouth and widened her eyes. "Pitch purposely kept us in his lair so that the Nightmares could attack Bunny's Warren, and when he snatched you and threw me back to the others, North, Tooth, and Bunny all immediately thought that I left them on purpose and that I…betrayed them and traded you to Pitch to get my memories."

Baby Tooth gasped. She had been wondering how Jack got separated from North, Tooth, and Bunny and ended up in Antarctica, but now, it made sense. How could her mother think that Jack would betray them? The only reason they ended up in Pitch's lair was because they were following a voice. They didn't know they were in the Boogeyman's lair until it was too late.

"So, I'm afraid that if I tell them about my memories and they see how happy I was, then they would get upset with me and won't want to hear about it. Plus, I would probably have to tell them about what happened with Pitch in the lair. Who knows if they'll actually believe me when I tell them that?"

Baby Tooth began to chirp crazily telling Jack that he was wrong. Of course, the Guardians would believe him. They'd have to! He helped them defeat Pitch!

"Look, Baby Tooth, I know I have to tell them, but I can't…not now. As far as I'm concerned, right now, they still think I betrayed them, and if I try to tell them otherwise, they just won't believe me. I'm just going to wait awhile. I need to make sure that we actually trust each other first. So, you have to promise me that you won't tell them about Easter Sunday. Promise?"

Baby Tooth sighed and rolled her eyes knowing that she would hate to break a promise to her new best friend. She smiled and nodded promising to keep it a secret.

Jack smiled in return. "Thanks, Baby Tooth."

* * *

The next day, Jack figured since it was daytime in Burgess, Sandy had to be somewhere in the Eastern hemisphere. It took a while, but Jack quickly found the good ol' Sandman floating on his sand cloud above London not too far from Big Ben spreading dreams to all the sleeping children under the light of the Moon.

"Hey, Sandy!" Jack shouted to his golden friend.

Sandy turned around to face Jack and waved to him with a big smile on his face. He then waved Jack over to join him on the cloud to talk while he worked.

"What's up, little man?" Jack asked as he took a seat on the cloud hugging his staff close next to Sandy.

Sandy shrugged and flashed an image of himself spreading dreams everywhere above his head. He then pointed at Jack with a question mark above his head.

"Not much," Jack replied. "Just thought I'd come by and see how you were doing."

Sandy smiled warmly at Jack and patted the boy on the shoulder while giving him a thumbs-up.

Jack smiled even wider, but that smile suddenly faded into a frown as he looked away remembering the tragic event that took place a few days ago. While he had been wondering if North, Tooth, and Bunny had forgiven him for leaving them on Easter Sunday, he had also been wondering if Sandy had forgiven him for accidentally leading him to Pitch…to his death… Like the others, he seemed like he did, but one could never be too sure.

Sandy saw this and became confused while also amazed at how quickly the boy was able to shift into different emotions. The Guardian of Dreams tapped Jack on the shoulder to get his attention.

"I also came to apologize to you," Jack said sneaking a glance at Sandy.

Sandy created a question mark as he raised an eyebrow at the boy asking him to explain. What did Jack have to apologize for? He didn't do anything wrong.

"For…for what happened when Pitch…you know…"

The Guardian of Dreams silently gasped when he realized what the Guardian of Fun was talking about. He became upset himself as he thought back to that night in Burgess. He could still feel the sting of Pitch's arrow piercing into his back…how everything just went black sending him into oblivion.

"If I hadn't had made Abby the dog chase Bunny, then you wouldn't have knocked everyone out, and we wouldn't have gone after Pitch alone."

Sandy had enough of this and quickly grabbed Jack's shoulder so that they faced each other. He then created as many images as he could to tell Jack that he was not to blame. It did not matter that they were alone at first. Even when they were altogether, Pitch had them outnumbered and would've found some way to kill him regardless of the circumstances. Nothing they did would've mattered. Pitch was too powerful, and Jack was not to blame. End of story.

Luckily, Jack got the message and smiled. "Thanks, Sandy," he said. With that, he reached forward and hugged Sandy, who quickly returned the gesture.

No words were exchanged. Not even small sand images were created as the two Guardians stayed locked in their embrace because that embrace was all Jack needed at the moment, and when they finally pulled apart to let Sandy get back to work, very few conversations were exchanged as Jack just watched Sandy work and even played around with some of the dreams himself while Sandy watched with pride.

* * *

**Author's Note: ** I know I said that this was mostly about Jack and North, and it is! I promise that will come up! I just didn't want to leave the others out too much, since Jack has to get used to having them around as well, but don't worry, we'll get back to North in the next chapter.

So, I kind of feel like that until North, Tooth, and Bunny find out what really happened on Easter during the movie, they still think that Jack betrayed them. If anything, I think they felt bad for chasing him out, or at least Tooth did, and actually forgave him when they saw that he got Jamie to keep on believing in them and that he did care about their cause.

Anyway, once again I'm sorry for the delay, but that craziness is over now until final exams. So, I figured that I would update every Sunday. This way, I have the week to write the chapter and type it up on the computer. So, be on the look out for Chapter 4 next Sunday! Until then, keep those reviews coming! Thanks, guys!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Okay! Here is Chapter 4! Like I said, we head back to the Pole in this one! And let's just say that there is one more chapter after this one before the storm sets in…dun…dun…DUN! Anyway, once again thank you to everyone who has been following, favoriting, and reviewing. As always, here are the review replies:

**Saura: Poor Jack…hopefully things will start to get better for him.**

**Csd: Thank you very much! Don't worry. I will not stop until all my stories are finished. It's just this month the semester at school is coming to an end, and unfortunately, there will be times where school will have to come first. But don't worry. I will definitely keep up with my stories and will make sure to give you guys advanced notice when a new update might take a while. **

**WRATH77: Lol! You shall have moooooooore! Lol! Glad you like it so far!**

**Firenze Fox: Thank you very much! Yeah, the scene with Jack and Tooth was my favorite scene to write! I was a little worried about Bunny, though, but reading your review really helped. Glad you liked it! Hope you like what's next!**

**Snowflake the pooka: Lol! I'm glad you liked it! Who doesn't love family fluff?**

**Wierdsquirrelgirl: I'm glad you were able to relate to Jack in this, especially based on past experiences. That's a very perceptive analysis on what Jack is going through in the story, and I'm glad you were able to read it in such depth. **

**Moira Colleen: Exactly! You nailed it right there! Yeah, I can see why they reacted the way they did as well. Their best friend just died. Their one chance of saving the children from Pitch just blew up in their faces big time, and Jack did not return until it was too late after he promised he would come back as soon as Sophie was home. Plus, Jack has been on his own for a long time, so I guess you could also say that they figured he was being selfish. I guess you could say it's close to the truth in a sense as Pitch did offer Jack his memories, but then again Jack refused to take them. **

**AyameKitsune: Thank you! You shall have more!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own **_**Rise of the Guardians.**_

* * *

Chapter 4

One month had passed since Jack was inducted into the Guardians, and things were actually starting to look up for Jack and his new friends. They were getting used to having him around just as he was getting used to being able to visit them without being turned away. They accepted him, and he knew it. He felt the bonds growing between them one day at a time, and he was slowly beginning to trust them. Not only that, but he was pretty sure that North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy were slowly beginning to trust him as well. Because Jack was so focused on getting to know his potentially new family—still working on those baby steps—he had been working on his new routine of going to see each of the original Big Four on each day until the next Guardian meeting, that North told him about. Life was looking pretty good for Jack Frost. However, there was still a small snag. Despite the trust-building and friendship-forming, Jack still didn't think he was ready to tell the other Guardians about his memories and his encounters with Pitch on Easter Sunday. He knew that it would mean letting North, Tooth, and Bunny think that he betrayed them, but he was willing to let that happen if it meant that he had to gain their trust first.

For now, that was the last thing on his mind as he let out a cheer at the top of his lungs soaring high above the clouds with only the Wind carrying him and his staff in hand. He weaved from side to side and performed loop-de-loops as he traveled for miles to his destination. A couple hours passed before the Pole came into view over the horizon. Jack smiled when he saw North's home and called to the Wind asking it to give him another boost. The winter teen's excitement increased tenfold as he flew closer to the Pole. He could not wait to spend the entire day with North. Out of all four of the veteran Guardians, Jack had to say that so far he enjoyed spending time with North the most. It was nothing against Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy. It was just that he felt that he and North had a stronger connection that started ever since Jack was shoved into the sack and tossed through the magic portal. North was the first out of the Guardians to believe that Jack had the potential to become one himself. He was willing to take the winter child under his wing and show him the ways of the Guardians. The Guardian of Wonder also took time to talk to Jack to make sure he was okay, especially just one month ago after Jack had that nightmare, and started to teach him how to sword-fight and to make ice-sculptures. Jack even made it a habit to stay at the Pole for the night instead of going back to his lake in Burgess whenever he visited. It was weird for Jack to say, but in a way, it was almost as if North was becoming like a father to him.

Jack quickly shook his head ridding himself of those thoughts. He couldn't think like that. It was too soon to think of the Guardians as a family. They still had a few more baby steps before they could get to that point. Plus, he and North weren't biologically related, and they never would be. North would never want to play house with Jack Frost…a winter spirit…and a troublemaker. He was still getting used to the big guy accepting him so quickly, and like he had said, he didn't want all that to get ruined. Jack was jolted back to reality when he saw that he was getting closer to the Pole and that a certain white-bearded man had opened a window to let him in. Jack had an even bigger smile on his face when he saw North waiting for him, and with this boost of energy, the Wind gave him one last boost that allowed him to fly even faster until he finally entered through the window and landed inside.

"Hey, North," he said as he landed.

"Hello, Jack, my boy," the big man replied. "How are you this fine day?"

"Pretty good," said Jack. "It's a great day for flying."

"I'm glad you said that because I have a surprise for you today," North said beckoning Jack to follow him as he put on his coat and hat.

Jack beamed from ear to ear as he ran after North. "A surprise?! What is it?!"

"Follow me and you will see."

"Aw, come on, North! Tell me, please!" Jack said as the duo walked through the workshop dodging the yetis and elves, who passed by.

"I can't," North replied. "It will ruin surprise. Just follow me, my boy."

Jack groaned in exasperation but continued to follow North nonetheless. It wasn't long until they finally reached the stables where the reindeer were kept. When they finally got there, the yetis were busy pulling the reindeer with North's sleigh attached to their reigns out of the shed. While North was busy calming the reindeer down, Jack was busy staring at the sleigh with his jaw dropped to the ground. Like the Tooth Palace, he had only seen the sleigh a few times just last month, and he was still impressed with the flying vehicle's magnificence and size. However, there were only two questions that ran through his mind. Why were they taking the sleigh out now? Was North planning some kind of trip for them?

"Like I always say, everyone loves the sleigh," North suddenly said walking over to Jack and unknowingly jolting the boy out of his thoughts.

"Uh, yeah, this is great, North," Jack finally said, "but I still don't get it. Why is the sleigh out?"

"Ah, that is big surprise, my boy. We're taking the sleigh out because you're going to learn how to drive it."

Jack smiled once again as he turned to face North. "Are you serious?"

"Of course! You did such a good job last time. I figured it would be good for you to practice again. So, what do you say? Want to take her out for a spin?"

"Heck, yeah! Let's—" his face fell when he realized something, "b-but, wait, what about the workshop?" It wasn't that he didn't appreciate North's offer to take him out for a ride on the sleigh. It's just that all the times he and North spent together the past few weeks were always inside the workshop, which made the Guardian of Wonder accessible to the yetis. Now, they would be leaving it completely unattended.

North smiled warmly at Jack as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jack, I already told you," he said. "Don't worry about it. Phil and the other yetis can take over for the day. Now, no more chit chat. Let us go for your first flying lesson!"

"Alright!" The two winter guardians jumped into the sleigh with Jack at the reigns. When the preparations were made, Jack flicked the reigns as North instructed, and they were off.

* * *

If one listened closely on the Earth down below, he could hear Santa Claus and Jack Frost laughing together as they soared across the skies in Santa's sleigh with Jack at the reigns, of course. Both Jack and North were having a grand ol' time together. Jack was doing very well handling the sleigh. Granted, he was as reckless as North was, but the sleigh was still in control. So, North viewed it as Jack doing a good job nevertheless.

"Excellent job, Jack!" North said ruffling the boy's white hair a little. "Now, we work on turning right."

"How do I do that?" Jack asked.

"Is very simple…like riding the wind," said North. "All you do is jerk the reigns to the left. Like I keep telling you, you control the reigns, and reindeer do the rest. Try it."

Jack took a deep breath. "Okay, here we go." He then jerked the reigns to the left just as North told him. Suddenly, the reindeer obeyed the silent command and turned right. The Guardian of Fun cheered for the billionth time that day as they made the wide turn. "I did it!"

North laughed sharing the boy's excitement. "Great job, my boy!" he said. "You're learning fast!"

"Well, I do have a great teacher, North. So…thank you."

"Anytime, Jack. Now, how about we do a few more right turns, maybe a few left turns, and—oh, I don't know—some loop-de-loops? What do you say?"

"I say bring it on, pal! Hey, you think we can head toward Burgess? I want Jamie to see this!"

"Of course! Onward!"

* * *

As Jack and North flew over the small town of Burgess for young Jamie Benett and his friends to see them, they failed to realize that someone else recognized their presence. Deep in the forest outside of Burgess, down in a small deep hole, the sworn enemy of the Guardians, Pitch Black, otherwise known as the Boogeyman, sat in his dark and dank lair all alone. His Nightmares were wandering about free from his control just as they had been for the past month…thanks to the Guardians, and in particular, Jack Frost. The minute he was thrown back into his lair he swore he would get revenge on those pathetic Guardians and Jack Frost on his side. Whether the boy liked it or not, he was going to help Pitch continue his plans to spread fear throughout the world starting with the destruction of the Guardians. He might've aimed to kill Jack during the final battle a month ago, but now he realized that would not help him in any way. Jack had to join him, and that was that. The only question that remained was…how? He was weak because of that battle. He was slowly gaining strength back only because…well, like he told the Guardians…there would always be fear, but his questions were suddenly answered when…he sensed something. He sensed…fear…Jack Frost's fears. His old fear of no one believing in him was gone, but it was replaced with a new fear. It was a fear of his friendships with the Guardians being ruined, losing his believers, never having a family again. It was a fear of losing everything he spent 300 years waiting for. Pitch smiled to himself. Oh, this was just perfect, for he knew exactly what to do.

* * *

It had been a few hours of non-stop sleigh-driving lessons with North and Jack. After teaching Jack a few more loop-de-loops and realizing they had a meeting in an hour, North decided it was time for him and Jack to head back to the Pole to get ready. While Jack's driving was getting better during his practice run, his landing was…well…not. Luckily, Jack knew where to land the sleigh, and it wasn't as bumpy as the last time he landed the vehicle at the Tooth Palace.

"Uh, sorry about that landing, North," Jack said sheepishly as they climbed out of the sleigh and made their way back into the workshop leaving the yetis in the stables to put the vehicle away until the next time North needed it. As they climbed out, Jack inwardly cringed when he noticed how dizzy North looked as the older Guardian stumbled as he led Jack inside.

He realized that Jack was talking to him and shook off the dizziness before turning to the winter spirit smiling at him. "Is no problem, Jack," he said. "Was your second time landing it. It took me a while to finally figure out how to land."

Jack raised an eyebrow and smirked at North. "How long is a while?"

"Eh, couple years," North replied shrugging his shoulders.

The winter spirit laughed as he tried to imagine a young North, who probably was still getting used to having the title of Guardian of Wonder much like the young winter spirit having a difficult time learning how to drive and land the sleigh. The Guardian of Fun felt that this day was similar to all those times in the last century or so he had seen teenagers learning how to drive a car from their parents, mostly their fathers. This was exactly like those moments, when he would see the teen getting frustrated or embarrassed and the father reminding his kid that he had a hard time too. However, Jack quickly shook his head again. He couldn't think like that. North was and never would be his father. Again…baby steps. He might have been beginning to trust North, but there was no telling how long that would take. There were still some things that needed to be ironed out. Not only that, but how could he sure that North would even want that deep of a relationship? Why would he want to play "Daddy" to someone like Jack Frost when he was always too busy in the workshop making presents for the children of the world?

"Somehow, I find that really hard to believe," Jack added after his laughing fit, which thankfully prevented North from seeing that he was lost in thought for a moment.

"It is true," said North. "It had taken me forever to finally get the hang of the sleigh, but practice had finally paid off. And do you know why?"

"Because…you can bring wonder to all children."

"That, and because I get to pass down my knowledge to my s-friend…my good friend, Jack Frost."

Luckily, Jack wasn't able to catch North's slip of the tongue. Instead, he smiled gratefully at the Guardian of Wonder.

"Thank you, North," he said.

North smiled in return. "You are welcome, Jack," he replied as he put his arm around Jack. "Now, come. We must prepare for Guardian meeting."

* * *

After Jack and North finished preparing for the meeting, the two Guardians sat down at the table set for them by the fireplace in the Globe Room, and North decided to regale Jack with the story of when he crashed the sleigh on his first Christmas Eve as Santa Claus and a Guardian over a plate of cookies set on the table. Jack was about to eat another one when he suddenly went into another laughing fit with North.

"I still can't believe it," he finally said when they both calmed down from laughing. "Come on, North, you got to be pulling my leg here."

"Believe it because it _is _true," North replied. "I was lucky enough to have some of the yetis with me to help me get the sleigh back up again."

"Whoa, how did they do that?" the winter teen asked.

North was just about to reply when he saw the clock on the wall above their seats. The meeting was going to start in five minutes. "Ah, looks like that will have to wait, Jack," he said as he stood up from his seat to activate the lights that would summon the others. "We need to start the meeting."

"Aw, man," Jack groaned as he stood up as well and grabbed his staff from its spot leaning against the table. He suddenly had an idea. "Hey, you think maybe we can finish the story later after the meeting?"

"Of course, my boy!" North said as he wrapped his arm around Jack and guided him over to the control panel by the giant Globe of Belief. "I would never leave you on a…oh, what do you call it when a TV show ends when you don't know what's going to happen next?"

Jack laughed. "A cliffhanger, North," he said.

"That's it! A cliffhanger!" Both guardians laughed together once again. Neither of them had ever admitted it, but both Jack and North absolutely loved it when they shared laughs together. It was becoming part of their thing, and it was helping to strengthen the bond between them. When they got to the control panel, North activated the Northern Lights to summon Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Okay, that's it for this chapter! Hope you all liked this one! So, I decided to make the time skip one month later because I felt that it would be enough time for Jack to feel like their friendships were going somewhere yet still have some doubts that he could trust them yet because don't forget, a month is four weeks and when you think about it, it's still pretty recent, so like Jack said, there would still be some things to iron out and for Pitch to feel that he had enough strength for…whatever he's planning. Anyway, that's just a little rant from the author. Don't mind it. Anyway, please continue to leave reviews! They really do make my day and get me excited to post the next chapter, so see you in the next chapter! Although, because Easter is this week, I either will get to post it early on Saturday or on Monday. I'm not sure, but a chapter will go up this week!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Hey, everybody! So here is my Easter present from me to you…CHAPTER 5! So, like I said in the last chapter, this chapter is sort of the calm before the storm, which is getting close I promise! But enough with my rambling, here are this week's review replies:

**PippaFrost: HAHA! GET READY FOR SOME MORE FEELS!**

**Saurara: DING! DING! DING! WE HAVE A WINNER! And for that, here's a virtual cookie. (::) I actually forgot to ask if anyone picked up on that, so I'm really glad you did! Yeah, the North/Jack father/son fics are rare, but I've actually come across a few that are very good. If you want the titles, just PM me and I'll gladly tell you what I found. **

**Insane PJO Lover 93: (chapter 2) Thank you again! Lol! I just love their father/son relationship! It was one of my favorite parts of the movie!**

**Insane PJO Lover 93: (chapter 1) Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! **

**Firenze Fox: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! My dad taught me how to drive too, so I was able to sympathize with Jack as well. Lol! Yeah, Jack is starting to see North as a father figure, but unfortunately, it seems he doesn't seem to want to admit it. Poor kid… And don't worry, North's POV in those whole situation is coming up. I know I've been keeping the focus on Jack, but I kind of wanted to do that so that we can see how he adjusts. Now that he is adjusting, North is going to have his moment to shine!**

**SayianPrincess: Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it! No problem. Thank you for reviewing!**

**Wierdsquirrelgirl: LOL! Hopefully, he won't, but we'll just have to wait and see. **

**MossFire23: Thanks! Glad you like it!**

**Squee-bunny: Aw! Thank you! That means a lot! I love North and Jack's relationship fics, part of the reason why I'm writing this! Lol! Hope you like what happens next!**

**AyameKitsune: Thank you! You shall have more! **

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own **_**Rise of the Guardians.**_

* * *

Chapter 5

Within minutes after North activated the Northern Lights, one by one the other Guardians arrived. The first one to arrive was Bunny. He burst through the Globe Room's doors muttering to himself about not being able to feel his feet after hopping through the numbingly cold snow outside the Pole.

"Oi, mates," he said as he ran past Jack and North and stopped right at the fireplace to warm himself.

"You know, Bunny, if you hate the cold so much, why don't you just come in here through your tunnels?" Jack innocently asked the 6'1" Pooka.

Bunny was just about to answer when North suddenly chimed in. "Now, Jack, Bunny just—" the big man stopped when he realized that Jack actually asked a good question. "Actually, you do have point. Bunny, why don't you?"

"Hey, I don't tell you how to ride the Wind or you how to drive that flying death-trap of yours," the Pooka retorted smirking at his two friends.

As Bunny turned back to the fireplace, Jack and North just looked at each other and shrugged deciding to leave their friend be. That was when a familiar buzzing came through the opening above the globe. The three male Guardians all looked up to see that it was Tooth and a few of her mini-fairies.

"Hello, guys," she said as she flew down to her friends.

"Hello, Tooth," said North. "Good to see you."

"Good to see you, too, North," she replied cheerfully.

"Hey, Tooth, long time no see," Jack said as he walked up to both the Guardian of Wonder and the Guardian of Memories.

"Yes, Jack," Tooth replied playfully, "it's been…two days since we last saw each other?"

"Yeah, whoo! Feels like it's been forever," Jack retorted.

North let out a loud laugh as he ruffled the boy's hair. Before Tooth had a chance to reply, one of mini-fairies flew up to Jack nuzzling against his cheek. When she pulled away, Jack was able to see that it was Baby Tooth.

"Hey, Baby Tooth," he said.

Baby Tooth chirped in response as her sisters squealed in glee watching her and Jack Frost watching her take her place on Jack's shoulder.

North, Tooth, and Bunny all lovingly smiled as they watched Jack bond with Baby Tooth. All three of them had noticed that ever since the battle against Pitch, Jack and the mini-fairy quickly developed a close friendship. It was almost as if Jack's betrayal on Easter had never happened, and they all knew that was probably for the best. They did forgive Jack for what he did, but that didn't stop them from feeling guilty for casting him out without letting him explain how or why he traded Baby Tooth for his memories and didn't return to the Warren like he promised. As they were able to calm down and think things through before going to find the last light, North, Tooth, and Bunny wanted nothing more than to find Jack and talk to him about what he did. However, Jamie, the Last Light, had to come first that night, and they all thanked the Man in the Moon that they found Jack at the little boy's house, where he showed them that he was sorry for what he did and that he really did care about their cause convincing them to just let bygones be bygones and to move on. Only during and after the final battle, did they see that that was the best decision that they ever made.

All their thoughts were suddenly interrupted when they heard an aircraft approaching them. They all turned to see that it was Sandy in his typical golden sand airplane. Sandy's fellow guardians all watched him as he flew around the globe a few times. Even though it had been a month, the four other guardians still found it very hard to believe that the Sandman was once dead in the battle before Easter and yet through the children was revived in a matter of days, especially Jack. Jack would never admit it to anyone, but he even had nightmares where he would be forced to watch Sandy's death all over again. Despite apologizing to Sandy and getting his forgiveness, the death of the Guardian of Dreams was another thing Jack blamed himself for…right up there with the Easter disaster. The winter spirit pushed those awful thoughts to the back of his mind as he and the others watched Sandy's airplane disintegrated into tiny grains of sand and Sandy himself floated to the group below him.

"Hey, Sandy, how are you doing, little man?" Jack asked happily.

Sandy responded with a huge smile and a double thumbs-up. Then he conjured up a question mark over his head as he pointed at Jack.

"How am _I _doing?" Jack translated.

Sandy nodded.

Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "Can't complain. Starting to get some more believers. Oh, and North started to teach me how to drive the sleigh today."

"What?" Tooth and Bunny asked in unison. Sandy stared wide-eyed at the winter spirit. The mini-fairies all stared at Jack as well from their spots next to their mother while Baby Tooth looked up at her best friend from where she sat on his shoulder.

"Yeah," the Guardian of Fun replied. "North started to teach me how to work the sleigh today."

"Really?" Bunny asked while giving North a sidelong glance. He looked like he was just proven right about something.

Sandy then flashed a sandy scenario of Jack talking to the other Guardians. Before Jack could guess what Sandy told him, Tooth suddenly chimed in.

"Sandy's right," she said. "You must tell us all about it."

"Yes, well, first, we must do what we came here for," North suddenly said going into his "leadership mode," as the others liked to call it. "We will have meeting, and then Jack can tell you all how he did today."

Bunny, Tooth, Sandy, and Jack all obeyed their leader and joined him at the table, and the meeting commenced. Luckily, no one had seen any signs of Pitch ever since the battle on Easter, so the meeting was just a check-up on everyone. North mentioned how he and the yetis were even more determined to make this year's Christmas the best one ever. It would help to strengthen the children's belief. Tooth reported that Jack and the fairies were slowly helping her to go back into the field every now and then. Bunny mentioned that he was getting back into the preparations for Easter and that he was ready to make next year's Easter the best. Sandy explained that he had been giving children the best dreams that anyone could ever ask for, especially ones of the Guardians themselves. Then, that left Jack. He didn't have much to report…only that he had been adjusting to his new life as the Guardian of Fun, slowly gaining more believers, enjoying his time with all the others, and sending snowstorms to wherever it was needed. The meeting finished in an hour or so, and everyone immediately turned their attention to Jack to hear his story for the day.

* * *

For the past hour and a half, the five Guardians of Childhood were gathered together in the Globe Room. The whole time, Jack recapped what North taught him when riding the sleigh today. As he regaled his lesson with North to his fellow Guardians, he became so wrapped up in what he was telling them that it was almost as if he was reliving it. North figured that he probably was just from looking at the smile that never left Jack's face as the boy mentioned how the Guardian of Wonder taught him how to make a left turn. It was one of the many characteristics that made North feel connected to Jack Frost. Jack might have been the Guardian of Fun, but he also had the wonder and excitement that a human child would have on Christmas morning. Perhaps it was that wonder that helped North to care about Jack when they first met last month and to see Jack as someone who really needed him…or rather a child who needed a father…just as much as the father needed his child…his son.

North immediately shook those thoughts out of his head. As much as he would love to let Jack know how much he meant to the Guardian of Wonder, he couldn't tell the winter teen yet. For the past few weeks, Jack had been slowly learning to trust North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy. Their friendships with the boy were coming along quite nicely, but the four veteran Guardians all knew that it could take a long time before Jack fully trusted them enough to see them as his friends and even longer to see them as family. As much as North hated to admit it, 300 years of isolation was enough to scar a person, especially a child at Jack's age, immortal and physical. He knew that for a fact when he and Jack talked about the newest Guardian's nightmare that day they returned from the battle. The boy needed to ease into his new life and get used to his new friends. Anything that would come out of nowhere and too fast for the boy's liking could scare Jack away, which was why North made a promise to himself that he would wait to tell Jack how much he cared about him as if he were the older Guardian's own son. It didn't matter if it would probably take decades…centuries even…so long as Jack knew he could trust his fellow Guardians. That was more than enough. The big man was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when Jack started to talk about how North taught him how to do the loop-de-loops.

"And then I pull on the reigns like this," Jack swung his arms downward like he was holding the reigns, "and the sleigh does the loop-de-loops!" he added with the big smile plastered to his face. "Aw man, we were going so fast! I could've sworn we were on a roller coaster!"

Bunny retched as Jack finished the story…not because he didn't like it. He just hated the mere thought of being trapped in that MiM-forsaken sleigh with North AND Jack in control. It was bad enough the first time. "Yeah…that's great, Frostbite," he said leaning back in his seat and holding his stomach.

"Sounds like you two had a fun day," Tooth said resting her head on her hands while resting her elbows on the table. She just loved listening to Jack recap his day with North. She felt like a mother listening to her son tell her about an amazing experience he had.

"It was awesome!" Jack replied. He then turned to North, who was sitting on his right. "North, can we do it again sometime?"

"Of course, we can, my boy!" North replied lightly patting Jack on the back as they both just missed the glances exchanged between Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy. "How about tomorrow before your visit with Bunny?"

"Great!" Jack replied. He then looked up at the clock again and remembered that he had to make a quick visit before bed tonight. "Hey, as much as I'd love to stick around," he added as he stood up from his seat, "I got to head out. I promised Jamie I'd visit him before he went to bed." He turned back to North. "So, I'll come back here later, and we can finish the story before bed if that's okay."

Not only had Jack made it a habit to visit every one of his fellow Guardians each day and stay at the Pole overnight whenever he visited North, but he had also made it a habit to visit Jamie once or twice a week. So, tonight was one of those nights.

"Alright," North replied. "Just make sure that you are back before midnight."

"No problem," Jack said as he grabbed his staff and made his way over to a window by the fireplace. "See you later, guys."

"Goodbye, Jack," Tooth said as she, Baby Tooth, her mini-fairies, Bunny, and Sandy waved to the boy.

"See ya, Frostbite," Bunny said. "Don't forget about tomorrow."

"I won't, Cottontail," Jack said as he smiled at them one last time and then jumped out the window letting the Wind carry him to Burgess.

Bunny found himself smiling as well as he watched Jack leave. "You know," he said as he and the other three Guardians stood up from the table, "the kid really is starting to grow on me."

"Yes," Tooth began as she fluttered next to Bunny, "I just wish we had known how great he was sooner. Maybe, we wouldn't have left him alone for 300 years."

"Hmm…yeah," Bunny said as he took his eyes away from the window that Jack left through and laid them on the floor below him. Tooth was right. The only reason they never bothered to talk to Jack or even associate with him was only because they just assumed he was a troublemaker and felt that their work was more important than bothering to talk to a winter spirit, who was technically a child—the one thing they were supposed to protect. It was after 300 years of leaving him in isolation, just a few weeks ago, when they found it necessary to start talking to Jack all because the Moon told them that they needed him to fight Pitch, and Bunny wasn't even all for it at first. The Pooka even had the nerve to think that Jack didn't care about children. It was not until the battle with Pitch did the Guardian of Hope realize how wrong he was and how horrible he had been to the boy, and just from looking at North, Tooth, and Sandy's saddened, guilt-ridden faces, he knew they felt the same way.

"But the important thing, now, Tooth," North suddenly said getting their attention, "is that we realize our mistakes, move on, and make it up to him. He actually is starting to be more trusting of us now."

Bunny and Tooth looked at each other and then back at North.

"Yeah, especially you, mate," the Pooka said smirking at his leader while Tooth and Sandy simply smiled.

The big man stared uneasily at his friends. The way they looked at him gave him the impression that they knew something and were onto him. "What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously as he crossed his tattooed arms.

"Nothing!" Bunny said holding his paws up defensively. "It's just that out of all of us the little snowflake seems to be closest to you…like uh…you know…" He wasn't sure how to say it especially when North was eyeing him in an uncomfortable way. The last thing he needed was North chasing after him with those swords of his.

Luckily, Sandy decided to cover for Bunny when he sensed the tension between the Pooka and ex-Cossack. The Guardian of Dreams stepped forward and conjured up a golden sand image of a man and a boy holding hands and walking together.

"Like a…father and a son," Tooth translated with a smile.

"What? How did you—? What gave you that idea?" North asked. He wasn't denying how he felt toward Jack, but he was surprised that his friends were able to see that the two winter Guardians had that deep of a relationship. "You know Jack and I aren't biologically related."

"No, you're not," said Bunny, " but you might as well be. Let's see. From what we've seen and what Jack has told us, you spend practically every second with the kid whenever you get the chance."

"You just spent almost the entire day teaching him how to drive the sleigh," Tooth added.

Sandy created images of a snowflake, a Santa hat, and a clock.

"Sandy's right," Bunny finally said. "You gave him a curfew just now. Plus, you've always been there for him ever since he became a Guardian…"

"…whether it was just to talk to him, to help him, or to comfort him," Tooth interjected remembering how Jack felt a lot better after his talk with North. "Yes, we try to be there for him, but he seems to trust you more. When we watched you two just now and hear what you've been up to, it's almost as if we see a father and his son."

"Alright, I admit it," North finally said holding his hands up signaling that he got the point. "I've always wanted a child of my own, so when Jack first got here after Manny chose him, I thought that maybe…just maybe I could take him under my wing and help him realize his potential. Then when we were talking about his center in my office, I couldn't help but feel this connection with him. Now that he's been spending time here with me, there are times where I just feel like he is my child. So, yes, I do see Jack as my own son." As soon as he finished, he released a breath he didn't realize he was holding and put his hand behind his neck as he looked at his old friends. He wasn't going to lie. It felt so liberating to get everything off his chest. However, he was getting uncomfortable again with the way Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy were staring at him. Bunny had his arms crossed smirking. Tooth fluttered next to him as she and her fairies beamed from ear to ear. In fact, for a moment, North thought they were going to explode with excitement while Sandy gave a big toothy grin that was worth a thousand words. There was nothing but silence between them until North finally just…shrugged. "You got me."

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, mate," Bunny said chuckling.

"I think it's sweet," Tooth said fluttering over to North. "It would be great for Jack to have a father figure around."

"I know, Tooth," said North, "but I'm worried that if I try to take on a parental role for Jack too soon, it will drive him away. He's only just starting to get used to his new life with us. I feel this would just frighten him."

Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy's faces all fell when they realized that North had a point.

"Yeah…he…might be a little iffy about it at first," Bunny finally said after a brief moment of silence before smiling again, "but seriously, mate, didn't you see the look on his face when he was telling us about your day together? The kid was practically beaming, and it was all because of what you did for him. Face it, North, whether he knows it or not, you could be the father figure he's been missing for the past 300 years."

"And maybe if you sit down and talk to him about it, you might find that he actually sees you as a father," Tooth chimed in. "You never know."

What Tooth said was true. He really didn't know how Jack felt about Santa Claus taking on the role as a father figure for him. The only way to find out would be to talk to the Guardian of Fun himself about how much he meant to the Guardian of Wonder and listen to the former's side of the story. Yes, it would be risky when it seemed like the boy's trust was still fragile, but like Bunny said, Jack loved spending time with North and really trusted him the most. There was a good chance that things would work out for both winter Guardians if they just talked about it. When he finally came to that conclusion, North smiled at his three friends.

"You're right," he said. "I'll talk to him…first thing in the morning."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Looks like North is taking the first step. Can he do it? How will Jack respond? Why am I asking you all these questions? Okay, anyway, alright, boys and girls, that was Chapter 5! Just a quick heads up about Chapter 6, I may or may not be able to update this weekend because it's going to be pretty crazy at school with finals coming up next week and classes ending. I will try, but I can't make promises. So, if you don't see any update this weekend, don't worry! It's just that I'll probably be swamped in schoolwork, and I'll update the week after that when I'll be done with school. So, hope everyone had a great Easter! Please keep leaving reviews! Thanks again, guys!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **Hey, guys! I'm so, so sorry for the late update! But to make it up to you here is Chapter 6! Hope you all like it! Here are the review replies:

**Sauara: Really? I love them! **

**Andipandi5: Haha! No I don't think you have, but thank you very much! That really means a lot! I'm having a lot of fun writing these characters. I was honestly worried about how I portrayed them, so reading your review really made my day. I hope you like what's next.**

**Alight: OMG! Thank you very much! I'm really glad you like it! I hope you like what's next! As for your questions, you will have to wait and see! **

**Guest: Thank you very much! That means a lot to me! LOL! I see what you did there! LOL! Thank you again! Hope you continue to like it!**

**Justrockzyxxx: Thank you very much! Glad you liked it! Hope you like what comes next. **

**SaiyanPrincess: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! No problem! I love writing fanfiction, especially for ROTG! **

**Breyannia: Well, you will have to wait and see, but without giving anything away, remember the passage in Chapter 4. I hope they find out too, but we'll see. I hope you like what comes next!**

**Wierdsquirrelgirl: Yes, so much cuteness! ROTFL! Maybe…maybe not…You will have to wait and see. **

**AyameKitsune: Thank you! More is coming your way!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own **_**Rise of the Guardians.**_

* * *

Chapter 6

It took Jack about 30 minutes to an hour to get the Bennett family household in Burgess, Pennsylvania. When the house finally came into view, he noticed that all the lights in the house were off, which meant that Jamie's parents and Sophie were sound asleep. While it didn't really matter that everyone was asleep since Jamie's parents couldn't see or hear him, Jack didn't feel like giving the two adults the impression that their son had gone crazy and was talking to himself. With one last boost of energy from the Wind, the Guardian of Fun flew to the window on the right on the second floor of the house, that he came to know for the past few years before becoming a Guardian. When he landed on the windowsill, he noticed that the window was closed and the small 10-year-old boy with brown hair and eyes in the dark bedroom. Jamie sat on his bed drawing in a small sketchbook with the light from his robot nightlight. Jack smiled when he realized that Jamie was waiting for him. With that smile, the winter child used his staff to gently knock on the window leaving a small spot of frost behind. The Last Light heard the knocking and looked up. Jack waved at his first believer when they made eye contact. He would never admit it, but his heart always pounded a little whenever he made eye contact with Jamie or any other mortal child. He was still getting over his fear of his Guardianship being a dream, but it was taking longer to get over the fear of not being seen by children.

When Jamie saw the white-haired spirit outside his bedroom window, he flashed a huge smile, jumped out of bed, and ran over to the window opening it to let his new best friend in.

"Hey, Jack," he said happily as Jack jumped inside.

"Hey, kiddo, miss me?" Jack said as he casually leaned on his staff and ruffled Jamie's hair.

"You bet," Jamie replied. "I haven't seen you since last week, and I only saw you from afar when you and Santa rode by on the sleigh today. What were you guys doing anyway?"

"Oh, well, North was actually teaching me how to drive the sleigh," the Guardian of Fun replied nonchalantly.

"What?!" Jamie shrieked not caring whether or not he woke his parents up. "No way! That's so cool! You got to tell me about it! Please!"

Jack chuckled at the child's enthusiasm. It would forever remain a mystery as to where Jamie got his energy, but Jack didn't care. A child's energy level was always fun. "Sure, I got time," he replied.

"Yes! Come on!" Jamie said as he grabbed Jack by the arm and pulled the winter teen to the bed. "I got some milk and cookies for us."

"Alright, I could use a snack."

* * *

Jack and Jamie talked and laughed for about an hour as they sat on Jamie's bed stuffing their faces with cookies and washing them down with milk. Jack told Jamie about his day with North putting in the same amount of energy that he put into it when he told the same story to Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy. The whole time Jamie listened to Jack with the same amazed look that he had when he first began to believe in Jack on Easter. He gave a few laughs and "wow's" when he felt the urge, but he still kept his look of amazement. There were certain times when Jack couldn't even keep himself contained and just randomly bounced around the room whenever he get to the parts where he talked about taking off and doing the loop-de-loops. He sat down whenever he talked about him and North just flying over the clouds and when he finally, but awkwardly, talked about his landing. However, throughout the whole story, the Guardian of Fun still did what he could to make it…well, fun for Jamie, and that didn't take much effort given Jamie's age and imagination.

"I can't believe it!" Jamie exclaimed when Jack finished. "You actually got to learn how to drive Santa's sleigh! The only thing I'm ever going to learn how to drive is a car."

"Well, you know, I could probably talk North into taking you and Sophie for a ride sometime if you want," Jack replied before taking another sip of his milk.

"Really? Aw man, that'd be the greatest thing ever! Thanks, Jack!"

"Hey, anything for you!"

It suddenly became silent for a moment as Jamie and Jack dunked yet another cookie into each of their glasses and ate them.

"So, is there any chance you could just maybe give us a snow day tomorrow?" Jamie suddenly asked.

Jack laughed. "As much as I would like to, kiddo, no can do," he said. "I'm a Guardian now. I have to start taking some responsibility, and that includes only bringing winter when it's needed." He knew that he was the Spirit of Winter before being inducted into the Guardians of Childhood, but now that he had a high position to keep up, he learned from North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy that he had to buckle down a little and take things seriously. After all, he did have an example to set for the children, but of course, that would never stop him from pulling a few pranks here and there, starting snowball fights, giving the kids thrilling sleigh rides, or freezing his lake every night to make it homey as usual.

Jamie shrugged knowing that Jack had a point. "Well, can't blame a guy for trying," he said.

"Don't worry," the Guardian of Fun said. "Come, next winter, I'll throw in two snow days in a row."

"Awesome!" Both boys laughed this time. "So, what's it like being a Guardian anyway?" the small boys asked when they calmed down.

"It's been great!" Jack replied excitedly. "Kids are starting to believe in me. I finally have great friends, who I can see anytime I want! I bring fun to kids! Life's never been better."

"I bet! Umm…can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"So…you said Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman are your friends right?"

"That's right, but don't worry. You're number one, too, buddy."

"Great to know, but that's not what I wanted to ask you."

"Oh, well, shoot then." Jack then took another sip of his milk as he listened to Jamie's question.

"Is Santa…or North, rather, your dad or something?"

Clearly not expecting that question, Jack suddenly sputtered his milk and coughed up the milk that went down the wrong way. All Jamie could do was watch and wait for the winter spirit to regain his composure while thinking that he said something wrong. Jack let out one last cough before clearing his throat and looked up at Jamie.

"What?" he said furrowing his eyebrows together. "Where did you get that idea?"

"I don't know," Jamie replied with a shrug. "It's just the way the two of you acted around each other. It kinda reminded me of what my dad and I have. You guys just looked really close like us. Not to mention that you guys both have white hair and blue eyes like my dad and I both have brown hair and brown eyes. I mean I thought he was your dad until you called him by his name instead of 'Dad' or something, so I was a little confused."

Thinking about what Jamie just said, he couldn't really blame his first believer for thinking that he and North were actually father and son. After all, like the boy said, they both looked physically alike with their hair and eyes, but that was only because North was old and the Moon turned Jack into a winter spirit. However, he was still surprised that a 10-year-old boy noticed their deep bond and assumed they were related. Did that mean others had noticed as well?

"Well…uh…no, North's not my father," Jack said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He was trying his hardest to figure out the best way to explain his current situation with the other Guardians to a 10-year-old boy.

"Oh, sorry," Jamie sheepishly putting his head down and peering up at Jack.

"Ah, don't worry about it, kiddo. You didn't do anything wrong. I was just shocked. That's all."

"Are you sure?" Jamie asked.

"Positive," Jack replied. "Actually, you just helped me a little. I've kind of been starting to see North as a father."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, well, North is not my actual father, but ever since I was chosen, I started to think of him as one. We're not related through DNA, but like you just said, we act like a father and son. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"I think so, but how did I help you just now?"

"You see, buddy, I've kind of been having a hard time dealing with this father/son-relationship with North. I've been wanting to talk to North about it, but I'm kind of afraid to."

"Afraid? Why?"

"Because…I may be friends with North and the other guardians, but I'm not sure how North would feel about having me 'as a son.' North is too busy with Christmas preparations for a good portion of the year, so for me to be his son, I'd just be in the way." He decided to leave out the part about him still working on trusting North and the guardians. It wasn't because he didn't think Jamie could understand. He just figured it would take forever to explain how he and his fellow Guardians were still working on trusting each other.

Luckily for Jack, Jamie didn't need the full details for what he was going to say next. "I don't think you would be. From what I saw when we fought Pitch, I honestly think that North would be happy you think of him as a father. Maybe, he sees you as a son, too. You won't know for sure until you talk to him," he said shrugging.

Jack thought for a moment and realized that Jamie was right. There was only one way to find out how North felt about him—whether or not he saw Jack as a son. The Guardian of Fun smiled at Jamie. "Jamie Bennett, you're really something."

Jamie just smiled.

* * *

Another hour passed before Jack finally decided that it was time for him to leave and for Jamie to go to bed. It was about 11:30 PM, and Jack had to be back at the Pole by midnight. It would only take 30 minutes for him to go back, and he wanted to make sure that North had enough time to finish the story. Plus, he wanted to make sure he had enough sleep for when he would talk to North tomorrow before their sleigh-driving lesson. He wanted to talk to North tonight, but Jack immediately figured he and North were both going to be exhausted from the day they had and that their topic needed both of them to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"I hope things go okay with you and North," Jamie said as he settled into bed.

"I hope so, too, kiddo," Jack said as he placed the blanket over his first bedroom. "See you tomorrow night?"

"Definitely. Good night, Jack."

"Good night, Jamie."

The winter spirit grabbed his staff from its spot leaning on the bedpost and made his way over to the window opening it. With one last smile at Jamie, who returned the gesture, Jack leapt out the window letting the Wind carry him back to the Pole.

* * *

Jack returned to the Pole at midnight right on the dot, and just like yesterday, he found North standing at the window waiting for him with a warm smile.

"Welcome back, Jack," North said as Jack landed inside.

"Thanks, good to be back," he replied. He looked around the Globe Room and noticed that Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy were nowhere in sight. "Did the others leave?"

"Yes, they left after you did," North replied as he wrapped an arm around Jack guiding him to the boy's favorite guestroom. "Bunny said you can go right to the Warren after our flying lesson, but until then, I believe there is a story that needs to be finished before a certain Guardian of Fun goes to sleep, no?"

"You know what, North? I believe you're right."

The two of them shared a laugh as they continued walking to the guestroom.

* * *

When they got to the room, where Jack was to sleep in for the night, North made sure that Jack was settled in under the covers before continuing where he left off a few hours ago. The rest of the story went on for the next hour with North and Jack sharing some laughs, Jack asking questions, and North answering before continuing. Luckily, the story had a happy ending with North telling Jack that he was able to make it to all the houses before dawn.

"Wow, and look at where you are now," Jack finally said when North finished.

"That's right, my boy," North replied. "It took me a while, but I finally made it."

"I'm glad you shared that with me," Jack said hugging his knees to his chest. "Next time, I'll have to tell you about some of _my _adventures."

North smiled warmly and patted the boy on the shoulder. "I would love that, Jack, and…uh…speaking of sharing…" the Guardian of Wonder remembered the promise he had made to the Guardians of Hope, Memories, and Dreams, "Jack, before we go flying tomorrow, I would like to talk to you about something…something very important."

"Oh, really?"

North nodded. "Don't worry. You're not in trouble or anything if that's what you're thinking."

"No, no, I wasn't thinking that. I was just surprised because…there's something I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow morning, too. I just didn't know how exactly to bring it up."

"Oh, well, alright then, we can talk over breakfast before taking the sleigh. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good."

"Good. I'll see you in the morning then."

"See you then." Jack slid down under the covers as North stood up and pulled them over Jack's shoulders. "Good night, North."

"Good night, Jack." He patted the boy's head as it rested on the pillow and turned off the light before leaving the room. As soon as the door was closed, North quickly let out a huge exhale as he leaned against the door. When Jack said he had something to talk to him about as well, he had to do everything in his power to keep himself from doing the Russian jig all throughout the Pole. He didn't want to give Jack nightmares tonight, but that didn't stop his belly from telling him that whatever Jack was going to say tomorrow was going to give Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy the opportunity to say "I told you so." North had a great feeling about this conversation with Jack. With that thought, North finally managed to snap out of his trance and walked back to his bedroom to get some sleep.

Meanwhile, back in the guestroom, Jack was staring at the very door North just walked through. He had doubts before, but now, he was so sure that nothing could go wrong now. He was never able to stop thinking about what Jamie said to him back at his house. If what the brunette boy said is true, then that would have to mean that North actually did consider him as a son, right? However, what increased his confidence was the minute North said that he wanted to talk to him about something, that didn't involve him getting in trouble. That was a good sign. The Guardian of Fun smiled to himself as sleep finally took over. If this conversation was going to go as well as he believed, then maybe…maybe North would also listen to him about his memories and Easter. It might have been wishful thinking, but he had to believe it, right?

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hmmm…it looks like things will go well for Jack and North, but…wait, what about Pitch? Well, looks like we'll have to wait and see what Chapter 7 has in store for us. See you in the next chapter, everyone! Don't forget to leave a review! Thanks, guys!


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **Hey, guys, so I decided to post the chapter a few days early mostly because Mother's Day is this weekend, and I've been off from school this past week. So, I figured, "What the heck?" Okay, boys and girls, this is CHAPTER 7! THIS is where things start to heat up! So, without further ado, here are the review replies:

**SaiyanPrincess: Thanks! I hope you like what's next! It is fun to write! No problem! Thank you for reviewing!**

**Breyannia: You'll find out soon! **

**Goodorevilangel-yourchoice: You'll have to wait and see! **

**TrustyFoxy: (Chapter 5) All fixed! **

**TwiliCuckoo: OMG! Thank you so much! That really means a lot to me! I hope you like what's next!**

**Justrockzyxxx: Thank you! Yeah, it is a shame… Dang it, Pitch! **

**Wierdsquirrelgirl: Yeah…WAY too well…**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own **_**Rise of the Guardians.**_

* * *

Chapter 7

The next day, Jack woke up feeling like he slept like a baby, and he knew why. After the conversation he and North had last night, he had no doubt that things were going to change once they talked things out over breakfast, and if things went well, then hopefully it would be easier to bring up his memories and what really happened with Pitch on Easter. After all, if Jack was going to see North as a father figure, then he would have to put himself out there and trust the big man. He tried to keep everything in and focused on those baby steps, but now, he realized that sometimes, you needed to take just one HUGE step to move forward.

The Guardian of Fun jumped out of bed that morning and got ready for the day ahead. He brushed his teeth and his hair before making the bed. Without any hesitation, he ran out the door and ran to the kitchen. When he got to the door leading to the kitchen, he stopped short. Jack then reached into his pocket and felt the tooth box that contained his precious memories. Relief washed over him when he felt it. After checking to make sure he had his staff in hand, he took a deep breath. He was ready…ready to forget about those baby steps and to take that one giant step.

Then he pushed the door open, but his excitement and nervousness turned into confusion when he didn't see North in the kitchen. Instead, he saw one of the many yetis sweeping the floor. That was weird. For the past few weeks, whenever Jack stayed over at the Pole, North always cooked breakfast for him and Jack before the boy left after he stayed for the night. So, why was there a yeti here?

"Uh…hey," he said getting the yeti's attention, "have you seen North?"

The yeti gave a garbled response and pointed outside the kitchen. Thankfully, North also taught Jack how to speak Yetish.

"The Globe Room?" Jack translated.

The yeti nodded. Jack smiled again figuring that maybe North was busy and didn't have a chance to make breakfast yet. It made sense. It happened once or twice before.

"Great! Thanks!" he said. The winter spirit then left the kitchen and walked to the Globe Room.

When he got there, he dodged the busy yetis and elves as he made his way through in an attempt to find the man in red. He finally found North standing at the Globe. The Guardian of Wonder had his back to the Guardian of Fun giving the impression that he was talking to someone. Jack smiled even wider and ran to him.

"Hey, North!" he said getting the older Guardian's attention allowing Jack to see that he was talking to someone. He was talking to Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy. "Oh, hey, guys!" Jack added when he saw them. "I didn't know you were coming over again today." North had made it clear that it was just going to be the two of them for the morning, so why were the others here?

"North asked us to come again today after you left for Jamie's house last night," Bunny replied.

"Oh," Jack said and turned to North showing the leader his confusion, "but I thought it was just the two of us today. Remember? You said that we were going to talk over breakfast and then go on the sleigh again before I visit Bunny. There's something I really need to talk to you about, North."

"Well, there's been a change in plans, Jack, starting with you," North said placing a hand on Jack's shoulder.

Now, Jack was back to being nervous, but it wasn't the excited nervousness he was feeling just moments ago. It was now a scared nervousness as he stared at North.

"Me?" the winter teen finally asked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean a change that involves you and your Guardianship!" As soon as he said that, he moved his hand from Jack's shoulder to the boy's white hair. However, when Jack was expecting North to ruffle it like he always did, he was taken by surprise when the big man suddenly glared at him and violently grabbed a handful of it.

"AGH!" Jack suddenly screamed in pain from North's intense grip as he dropped his staff and grabbed onto the big, beefy hand to try to get the older Guardian to release him but only in vain. "North! What are you doing?! That's my hair! Let go! North! North, you're hurting me! STOP! This isn't funny!"

"It's not supposed to be!" North said jolting Jack while keeping his firm grip on the boy's hair and not bothering to pay attention to the pained look on his face.

Despite the pain, Jack managed to crack his eyes open and looked up at North only to see the man's cold glare staring down on him. There was no sign of remorse or regret on the man's face. What was going on with him? Couldn't he see that he was hurting Jack? Why was he acting this way? He's never done it before. The Guardian of Fun then managed to turn his eyes to the other three Guardians, who did not have any expression on their faces at all. They were just watching the scene unfold between North and Jack not even trying to stop North or to help Jack. What were they waiting for?

"Guys, don't just stand there!" Jack shouted at Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy. "Say something!"

Bunny shrugged. "Sure, Frostbite," he said. "North…"

North turned to the Pooka with the glare never leaving his face.

Any little piece of hope Jack had left was shattered when Bunny suddenly glared.

"What are you doing just standing there staring at him?" the Guardian of Hope asked. "Are we doing this or what?"

Jack grew scared again when he saw North smirk at the 6'1" rabbit.

"Of course, Bunny! Come!" the leader of the Guardians said. Then without any warning, North turned to leave the Globe Room without loosening his grip on Jack as he dragged the boy with him while the others followed them.

"North!" Jack shorted now resorting to digging and scratching North's big hand to get him to release him as he was forced to walk. "Please let me go! This really hurts! Stop!"

Next thing he knew, they came to the giant green front doors of the Pole. Refusing to let go of Jack, North used his other hand and threw the double doors open revealing the Arctic landscape outside. Then without any hesitation, North pushed Jack out the doors. Unfortunately, it happened so fast for Jack that he landed face first in the snow not having a chance to break his fall. Thankfully, it was like landing on a pillow, so he wasn't hurt…at least not physically. He pushed himself up on his elbows spitting out whatever snow got into his mouth and turned around to glare at North, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy, who were all glaring down on him in return. Their ice-cold stares felt like knives that stabbed all over his body, but he refused to show it.

"What gives?!" he shouted at North. "What did you do that for?!"

"Jack Frost," North said crossing his tattooed arms, "from this moment on, you are no longer a Guardian."

Jack's glare fell when he heard North's harsh words. His stomach dropped, and his eyes widened while his jaw dropped. He didn't even bother to try to stand up. He couldn't move to begin with. He had to have been hearing things. This had to be a stupid prank. "WHAT?!" Jack shouted. "North, you can't be serious!"

"Oh, he's serious," Bunny said. "We talked about it last night as soon as you left last night. We decided that today is the day we kick you out."

Jack felt as if Bunny _and _North just punched him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him. This couldn't be happening! This really couldn't be happening! "But…but why?!" he asked. "What did I do wrong?!"

He jumped when Tooth suddenly let out a loud cackle. "Do you really need to ask that?!" she asked.

The glare returned to Jack's face as he stared at the fairy queen. "Yes, I do, Tooth! Now, answer me! What did I do wrong?! I helped you defeat Pitch!"

"Exactly!" North interjected. "You did exactly what you were supposed to do and helped us defeat Pitch! Now that we're sure he's not coming back, we don't need you anymore. You're useless to us, and we refuse to carry around a useless tool any longer than we have to!"

Useless…tool? Jack's glare faded again as North's cruel words registered in his head. His blue eyes darted to Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy, who were still glaring down on him. "Y-You all feel this way?!"

"Got that right, ya drongo," Bunny said smirking at the winter spirit.

"Absolutely!" Tooth added.

Sandy affirmed the statements when he created a golden sand image of a snowflake that had an "X" through it.

Jack was sure that if he weren't sitting in the snow, he would've most likely passed out. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He still couldn't believe what he was hearing. All those times he had spent with North, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy after the battle were all part of a charade. They were just using him because he was the key to defeating Pitch Black. Wait! No, that couldn't be it! This definitely had to be a prank! He went back to glaring at North and stood up to face the Guardian of Wonder defiantly.

"But…that…that doesn't make any sense," he said as he stood up keeping his eyes on North. "If you wanted to get rid of me so badly, why wait a whole month and waste your time with me?!"

"It was the only way to keep you close to us in case Pitch managed to come back," North threw his arms up shrugging, "and he hasn't been back for a month, which means we can finally get rid of you."

"But…but…you…North, you said you guys would always be there for me. Y-You promised that our friendships would never be ruined." He stared pleadingly at the one man he was starting to see as a father figure…someone who promised to never abandon him. There was still a small sliver of hope in Jack…hope that North would see what this was doing to him and either just come out and say it was a prank or reconsider their decision to get rid of him, but sadly, North didn't falter.

"Wake up, Jack!" he shouted angrily. "Can't you see?! I didn't mean a word of that! I just said that because it was the only way to keep you as close to us as possible if we ever needed you to deal with Pitch again! Why in the world would I ever want a useless-no-good-troublemaker around as a friend?!" As North said this, he stepped toward Jack causing the boy to step backward in fear. "Why would any of us want that?!"

As Jack continued to step back from the approaching North, he stumbled back and fell back into the snow. He didn't bother to say or do anything. How could he? He was just realizing that trusting the four people, who he thought would one day be his new family, was the biggest mistake of his life. All he could was stare into space not even bothering to make eye contact with any of them. If he were to look up, he knew he would breakdown just from staring into their ice-cold glares. Next thing he knew, North suddenly grabbed him by his hair again and roughly pulled him to his feet. Jack didn't even scream or yell as North yanked him up so that they were face to face.

"Now, you listen and listen good, Jack Frost," North said keeping his firm grip on the boy's hair while glaring at him. "We don't ever want to see you again. You are nothing to us, and you always will be nothing. You are no longer welcomed among us Guardians, so if we even see you from afar, you will be attacked. Do you understand?"

Jack didn't…still couldn't answer. Tears brimmed his eyes and were threatening to fall if he spoke, but North didn't care and yanked his hair harder causing Jack to cringe in pain.

"I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" he asked louder.

"Yes," Jack replied in a whisper.

With that, North released his grip and threw Jack back into the snow. Again, Jack didn't look at any of the Big Four members, so he didn't see who threw his staff into his lap. All he knew was that it was time to go and that he had better do it now before anything else happened. So, he picked up his staff and stood up still managing not to make any eye contact because one look at them would surely throw him over the edge. Once he was on his feet, he turned around to face the Arctic landscape in front of him as he prepared for the next chapter of his lonely life.

"You know how you said you should never have trusted me on Easter?" he suddenly said still not facing the four immortals behind him. They didn't reply allowing him to continue. "Well, guess what, I should never have trusted you." Not even bothering to listen or to see their reactions to his words, he let the Wind—his only one true friend—carry him away.

* * *

The lonely winter spirit found himself back at his lake in Burgess. He would've preferred to go to Antarctica, but he was so emotionally drained that he didn't bother to take the trip and settled for the one town he called "home" for the past 300 years. So, he allowed the Wind to gently place him on the ground next to his lake. Jack muttered a "thanks" to the Wind and knelt in the dirt. As he stared at his reflection in the ice, his mind told him to go find Jamie, but his body refused to move.

All he could do was stare into space as the events that occurred at the Pole replayed over and over again in his mind. Tears still brimmed his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He refused to cry. He couldn't afford to. Instead, he did what North did after the battle on Easter and pinched the skin on his hand. He kept assuring himself that this was all a bad dream and that he was going to wake up at the Pole, and then he and North were going on their sleigh ride like they planned.

However, when he pinched his hand, nothing happened. His stomach dropped, but he tried North's method again. Still, nothing happened. Jack began to breathe heavily. Again, he felt dizzy and thought he was going to pass out. This really wasn't a bad dream. It was all real…a part of cruel reality. What he saw and heard was all real. North, Tooth, Bunny, and Sandy…the four immortals, who he thought were his friends…maybe even his family…told him that they had been using him. They never wanted to be his friends to begin with. They just lied to him for a whole month to keep him around in case they needed him to defeat Pitch again. That's all it ever was.

It was nothing but lies for the past month, but the worst part was that he didn't see it coming, especially from North, who he was starting to see as a father figure. He was going to tell the Guardian of Wonder that, but after what happened this morning, he thanked his lucky stars that he didn't because it would've made the hurt of being casted out even worse.

He sighed as he mentally kicked himself for being so stupid thinking that his life was actually changing for the better when it never was. His so-called Guardianship was just a detour…a small break if that. No, scratch that, it really was what he feared it was…a dream. It might not have been the kind of dream you woke up from. No, it really did happen. He was inducted after Pitch's defeat, but his greatest desires that came with it—belonging somewhere, having a new family, being wanted and accepted among others—were just mere wishes that would never come true. It was official. Jack Frost was forever doomed to a life of isolation. If the Guardians never wanted him, then there was no way anyone else would. With that thought, he finally lay down in the dirt and went to sleep.

* * *

"Rise and shine, my boy!" North said as he opened the door to Jack's room with a smile. He got up earlier than usual today before breakfast so that he could work off the nerves before their long-awaited conversation with his job, but when he saw the lump under the covers, the nerves unfortunately increased tenfold. However, the smile never left his face as he walked up to the bed. "We've got a great day for flying!"

There was no answer from the lump, which confused North.

"Jack?"

No answer still.

"Jack, are you alright?" He pulled back the blankets expecting to find the winter teen still asleep, but unfortunately, his confusion turned to worry when he only saw a pillow. He gasped and got down on his knees to look under the bed only to find it empty. He then stood up again and looked around the room for any signs of the winter teen still finding nothing…not even his staff.

However, his hope increased a little when his eyes landed on the bathroom door. He walked over to it and knocked. "Jack?"

Still no answer. He didn't even hear movement behind the door, but he knocked again.

"Jack, I'm coming in." The Guardian of Wonder opened the door only to find an empty bathroom. Now, he was both worried and confused as only one question ran through his. "Where could he be?"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hmmm…very strange… What do you think happened? Was what Jack saw and heard even real? Hmmm…well, I guess we'll have to wait for Chapter 8. Maybe that holds the answers. We'll have to see. Until then, please keep leaving reviews! I really love reading them! Thanks, guys! See you next weekend in the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **Hey, everyone! So…I bet you want to read Chapter 8 right now, right? Well, we'll get to that, but first…REVIEW REPLIES!

**AKAISO: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like it so far! It's mostly focused on Jack's relationship with North, but I try to show his relationships with the others! Don't worry! It will keep going until it's finished! Thank you again!**

**Imjaysong: ****Yay! I'm glad you like it! Yeah…poor Jack… You know, I think Pitch is being chased by fangirls right now, so he might not be going out for scares for a while. **

**Guest: Don't worry! There's more coming!**

**MossFire23: LOL! Because…I love to leave you guys hanging and wanting**

**more… *****smiles innocently***** BTW, thanks for being my 60****th**** review!**

**Sauara: I do too**

**ShawnaCrazyGirl: Haha! It was Pitch. I'll tell you that much. Yeah, North needs better security. I mean, seriously, Pitch was able to waltz into the Pole TWO times in the movie!**

**SaiyanPrincess: Thanks! I'm glad you like it! I hope you like what's next!**

**Breyannia: You'll have to read the next chapter and find out! But I will say this…Pitch was involved. **

**Madcat300: Yeah, poor Jack! Maybe the force just doesn't like him.**

**Bluelove22: Don't worry! I will! Thanks!**

**Guest: Haha! It's coming!**

**Littletigery: It's kind of fun! Haha! Thanks!**

**ROTGBeliever: Hmm…not exactly, but this chapter will have the answer! **

**Wierdsquirrelgirl: *****looks at Pitch* Yeah, I'd run if I were you… *Pitch lets out a girly scream and runs* *chase ensues* Try not to hurt him too bad! I kind of need him for the rest of the story! *Crashing noises* Ooohhhh… BTW thanks for being my 50****th**** review!**

**TwiliCuckoo: We'll find out what happened in this chapter! Thanks! I'm glad you love it!**

**Andipandi5: Yay! I'm glad you liked it! Yeah…poor Jack... Well, you'll have to read this chapter to find out! I hope you like what's next!**

**Justrockzyxxx: Yeah, he's mean…**

**GiuliaZe: Yeah…it was. I'm glad you loved it!**

**WRATH77: Hmmm…you'll have to read this chapter to find out! **

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own **_**Rise of the Guardians.**_

* * *

Chapter 8

The Nightmare King smirked as he watched the shadows and nightmare sand circle around the sleeping Guardian of Fun. He could feel the boy's soul embracing the fear and darkness and saw how it changed his appearance. The winter teen's snow-white hair slowly turned to jet-black, and his pale skin became grey and pasty. Thankfully, the Boogeyman's victim was in such a deep sleep that it was too easy to corrupt him…to make him come to his side. He would've tried to simply talk to Jack about the scene that occurred with the Guardians, but the boy was already too involved with them and what they stood for. If Pitch were to approach him while he was awake, there was no doubt Jack would've attacked him and refused to join him. Therefore, he had to resort to bringing the boy to his lair while he was trapped in the nightmare and transforming him…not that he was complaining. The nightmare did its purpose and broke the boy. It made his worst fears come alive and tear him down to nothing.

Finally, the shadows and nightmare sand buried into Jack's skinny body and disappeared from view. Then, the boy stirred and woke up from his nightmare. He slowly pushed himself up so that he was on his hands and knees, so he didn't see Pitch smirking behind him.

"Something tells me you had a pleasant rest," he finally said.

"You could say that," Jack replied not looking up at Pitch. He wasn't resisting right away though. That was a good sign. "Why have you brought me here?"

"I saw you sleeping by the lake on the surface," Pitch said. "You looked upset. What happened?"

"Those…Guardians…" just the mere mention of their little group was enough to leave a bad taste in his mouth, "…they kicked me out this morning after telling me that they had been using me this whole time. They never wanted to be my friends. I was just a tool to them…a tool that couldn't be used anymore."

"Oh, how awful," Pitch said putting a hand to his heart. Because of the influence of the shadows and nightmare sand, Jack couldn't see that the Boogeyman was faking the sympathy. "It seems that the Big Four do more harm than good. How could they just do that after everything you did for them?"

"Who knows," Jack said still not trying to look up at Pitch or even stand up. Anger boiled inside of him. He still couldn't believe that he actually thought that the Guardians had the hearts to care about him. Why didn't he see that it was all lies? The fact that they only bothered with him because they needed after leaving him alone for 300 years should've been enough, but no! He let his guard down and opened his heart to them in hopes that maybe they would be his family with North as his father figure, and in the end, he ended up paying the price and found that it was all for nothing.

"Well, I do know one thing," Pitch said bending down and placing a hand on Jack's back. "If we work together, Jack, perhaps, we can have a little fun and gain some—oh, I don't know—revenge on those Guardians. What do you say, my Nightmare Prince?"

Revenge…that word sounded so beautiful to the winter teen. He couldn't let the Guardians get away with how they treated him. They needed to suffer the consequences of their actions, and he was going to make sure that they did, especially the no-good leader.

Jack suddenly turned around to face the Boogeyman allowing him to see yellow eyes like his. It was official. Jack Frost, the Guardian of Fun was no more. "I say," he said, "yes, Master."

* * *

Now, North was beyond worried. To say that he was concerned would be the understatement of the millennium. No, he was scared to death. Jack was nowhere to be found at the Pole. He had Phil and a few other yetis help him scour the palace and look in every nook and cranny for the winter teen. Unfortunately, they came up with nothing. North was sure the boy knew they were going to have their important discussion and go on the sleigh today. Jack agreed to it. He even mentioned that he had something to say as well.

Why would he disappear all of a sudden? Could it be because he was scared and retreated to avoid the conversation? No, that couldn't be it, but that was when North remembered that Jack was supposed to go to Bunny's Warren after their sleigh ride. Maybe, Jack just decided to go to the Warren so that he could work off the nerves, or maybe, it was just a little prank. Well, whatever it was, North knew there was only one way to find out. The Guardian of Wonder quickly grabbed his coat, swords, and snow globe.

"Phil, stay here!" he said to the head-yeti. "If Jack returns, activate the lights!"

Phil garbled in response.

North whispered his destination into the snow globe, shook it, and threw it in front of him causing a colorful portal to appear. He immediately jumped through, and within seconds, he was in the Warren. He looked around the eternal spring for any signs of the boy or the 6'1" Pooka.

"Jack! Bunny!" he called out.

"North?" an Australian-accented voice suddenly said.

The Russian looked to his left and saw Bunny hopping toward him.

"Bunny, thank Manny," he said with some relief as he ran over to meet the Guardian of Hope.

"Mate, what are you doing here?" Bunny asked. "I thought you were going to be with Jack for a little bit today."

"I was," North said frantically, "but when I went to wake him up this morning, he was gone. The yetis and I looked all over the Pole for him, but we couldn't find him. I thought because he was going to visit you, he would come here first instead. Is he here? Have you seen him?"

"Oi, oi, just take it easy, North," Bunny said. He had never seen his best friend this worried about anything before…not even when they were fighting Pitch. "I haven't seen him, but let's just take a look around. The Warren's a big place. He probably snuck in when I wasn't looking. Sometimes, he does that to throw snowballs or leave a patch a frost for me to trip on."

"Right…of course, he-he told me that…" North said taking a few deep breaths. Bunny was right. Jack probably just needed to get a good laugh out of pranking the Pooka to relieve his nerves before he came back to the Pole. He was probably hiding in the Warren right now ready to do just that.

Bunny chuckled. "Are you sure you two aren't biologically father and son?"

North chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. Now, let's find him."

With that, the ex-Cossack and the Pooka ran off to search the Warren for the winter spirit. Like the yetis at the Pole, they searched all over…every flower patch…every stone…every tree…every tunnel, but there was no sign of Jack anywhere. There was no indication that he even came to the Warren in the first place. Neither Bunny nor North was sure how long they were searching for, but they were becoming more and more concerned when they failed to find Jack. Bunny went over last night's events at the Pole for any clues. He was sure he heard Jack and North agree to take the sleigh before Jack came to the Warren, and Jack personally promised that he wouldn't forget about his visit. So, why wasn't Jack at either the Pole or the Warren? Was it just a prank? No, he wouldn't do something that cruel, and he definitely would've made sure that Bunny and North knew that their plans would have to be put on hold if something suddenly came up. No…something was going on.

"Where else could he be?" North said running a hand through his hair trying to think of any other spots that hadn't been checked yet. "He's not at the Pole, and he's not here."

"Alright, North, we can't panic just yet," Bunny said holding his paws out to calm his best friend and himself down. It wasn't going to help if they both started panicking. "We only checked the Warren and the Pole. There has to be other places, where we can look. Now, just stop and think for a second. Where else does Jack like to go to when he's not visiting us?"

"Uh…well, I guess there's…Tooth's palace…the lake in Burgess…Jamie's house…Sandy travels the world, so it would be impossible to find him."

"Okay, then let's stick with Tooth Palace and Burgess for now. We'll split up. It'll be easier and faster to find Jack that way. I'll stop by Tooth Palace while you check the lake and Jamie's house."

"Good, good, and let's meet at Burgess in one hour if we have no luck. If either one of us finds Jack, bring him back to the Pole and activate the lights."

"Good idea. Let's go!"

* * *

Bunny opened up his tunnel on one of the pillars of Tooth Palace. When he hopped out, he looked around for any signs of the Tooth Fairy. It was then that he noticed all the mini-fairies coming and going from one particular pillar a few feet above him. That had to be where Tooth was, and hopefully, Jack wasn't too far behind. He tapped his foot on the golden tiled floor below him and opened up another tunnel. He hopped in and quickly found himself on the pillar, where he found Tooth directing the mini-fairies not noticing the 6'1" Pooka behind her.

"Oi! Tooth!" he called out to her.

Luckily, Bunny's voice stood out among the millions of chirping mini-fairies, so he was able to get Tooth's attention.

"Bunny! What a pleasant surprise!" she said as she fluttered over to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Sheila, it looks like we may have a problem," Bunny replied. "North just dropped by my Warren and told me that Jack is missing."

Tooth's heart fell as her amethyst eyes widened. "What? What happened? Was he kidnapped? Did he run away?"

"We don't know. North said that when he went to wake him up, Jack was gone. He's nowhere at the Pole or the Warren, so I came by here to look while North is checking Burgess."

Tooth might not have known Jack for very long, but she knew that he was too kind of a soul to disappear on North as a joke. Something had to have happened last night, and they were going to find out. "Oh my goodness, well, I haven't seen him around here," she replied, "but I'll help you look around. You check the ground, while I check around here."

"Great. Between the two of us, the chances of finding the ankle-biter should be higher."

"Then let's not waste any time and find Jack."

* * *

The Guardian of Wonder ran through the portal and found himself in the town of Burgess. To be specific, he was at Jack's lake. The sun was just starting to rise over the town to begin the new day and thankfully to provide light for North as he searched for the winter teen. He also noticed that the lake was still frozen, despite that it was spring, which meant that Jack could've passed by and froze it. He took out one of his swords and pressed it down on the ice only to have the ice break. North's eyes widened. Thin ice could only mean that Jack never came back to the lake. Surely, the boy would've made sure that the ice was always thick enough for his liking.

His heart began to pound, but he tried with all his might not to panic. Jack had to be here at the lake. He just had to be. Where else would he go? With that thought, he searched the area trying to cover as much ground as he could in the limited time frame he had set for him and Bunny. He looked around the lake becoming more and more worried by the second when it seemed like he was alone.

"Jack!" he called out as he walked around checking every tree and stone.

His call was responded with silence, so North tried again.

"Jack!" a little louder this time.

Again, there was no answer. North's heart pounded even harder this time.

"Jack, where are you?! It's me, North! Come on out, my boy! I want to talk to you!"

There was no answer…no movement…no sign of Jack.

North ran a hand through his hair breathing heavily. For the past 50 minutes, he had been looking around the lake and any area of the forest that was within a 5'-radius but failed to find the boy. Jack was not at his lake. He would've gone deeper into the forest, but there was too much ground to cover in such a short amount of time. Besides, if Jack wasn't at his lake, then chances were slim that he was somewhere in the forest.

The lake was Jack's home. It was the one place he had ever known for the past 300 years. It would be his instinct to return to his home whenever he wanted. Then again, maybe he hadn't returned to the lake because he was visiting his first believer. Yes, that had to be it. With that thought, North ran to the Last Light's house across the street completely oblivious to the two figures watching him from one of the trees. Thankfully for them, one of them was able to keep them blended into the shadows to avoid being seen.

"Strange," one of the figures wondered aloud. "Master, it's almost as if he's worried about me."

"Don't fall for it, Jack," the second figure, Pitch said. "You know how he feels about you. He's told you himself. For all we know, he could be trying to lure you out into the open to attack you."

Jack narrowed his golden eyes at North's retreating form. There was something deep down inside him telling him that his Master was wrong and that he should go to North. He quickly shook his head. No, he was just being gullible again. His Master was right. He had failed to see the Guardians' true colors once before, but he wasn't going to do it again. Now, he knew. They manipulated him and used his desires and fears against him only to gain the upper hand in battle. Who's to say that they weren't going to try again? They might try to convince him to come back and to forgive them, and then when he would least expect it, they would suddenly turn on him and kick him out again when they lose interest. Thankfully, he had Pitch to help him beat them at their own game.

"You're right," Jack finally said. "So, what do we do?"

"We attack," Pitch said with a smirk, "starting with jolly ol' St. Nick."

* * *

North was thankful that adults couldn't see him because there was no doubt that an old man climbing up to look into a small boy's bedroom would cause some problems. It was easier this time to climb up to the window because unlike last month, he didn't have a huge sack full of teeth on his back. However, that was the last thing he was thinking about right now. All he was focused on was Jack, the boy who had become like a son to him.

He had been praying to Manny and any other deities that Jack was currently in Jamie's bedroom at this very moment having fun and that as soon as they had their conversation he would get to ground the winter child for life for scaring him to death. He smiled to himself at the thought of being able to treat Jack like his own son. All the excitement and panic this morning didn't really allow him to think about how his and Jack's lives would change forever. This conversation could open many doors for them. Maybe North would even consider adopting Jack.

The Guardian of Wonder abandoned the thought when he saw that he arrived at Jamie's bedroom window. He situated himself on the windowsill, but when he looked inside, his face fell as he felt his heart break. The bedroom was completely empty. There was no sign of Jack or Jamie in the bedroom. North was about to assume that Jamie was somehow with Jack, but he realized that he was wrong. If anything, Jamie had to have been at school, which meant Jack was somewhere else, but where?

"Oy," North said as he climbed down the house to the front lawn, "Jack, my boy, please. Help me find you before I go crazy."

"Perhaps, we can help," a velvety voice suddenly said from behind as North planted his feet on the grass.

North became confused and turned around to see who the voice belonged to only to be met with a powerful blast of frost, hitting him in the chest and knocking him down. As he propped himself up on his elbows, he looked up to see who was responsible for the attack and gasped when he saw who it was.

* * *

Tooth fluttered down to where Bunny was standing by the pool below the mural. She was hoping that his sensitive hearing wouldn't pick up on her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't find Jack anywhere in the palace. She had even asked her fairies to keep an eye out for the winter teen, but none of them, not even Baby Tooth, had seen him. She hoped that either Bunny or North had luck finding the newest Guardian. However, when she saw the Pooka standing by the pool alone, she doubted it was because he was playing hide 'n' seek with Jack.

"Bunny!" she called out to him.

The Guardian of Hope turned to see the Guardian of Memories flying toward him. As soon as he saw her and heard her heart pounding, he knew that the Tooth Fairy did not have good news. He sighed.

"I've looked everywhere," he said. "No Jack."

"Yeah, I didn't have much luck either," she replied as she folded her arms across her chest holding herself. "Bunny, I'm really worried."

"Me too," Bunny said running his paw over his ears. "We have no way to track down Jack, and North is probably pulling his hair out right now if he hasn't had any luck either. He was already panicking this morning."

"Well, maybe he has found Jack," Tooth said trying to stay positive. "You did say he was in Burgess, right? And Burgess is Jack's favorite place."

"There's only one way to find out. I'm going to meet North there. In the meantime, I need you to track down Sandy and join up with us. If North hasn't found Jack, either, we'll need you two to help us."

"Of course, I was about to head out into the field anyway."

"Great, we'll see you in a bit."

"Yes, good luck."

"Thanks, sheila. We might need it." With that, he tapped his foot on the earth opening up a tunnel and jumping in. As soon as Bunny was gone, Tooth immediately flew back up to where her fairies were in the palace. Once she put Baby Tooth in charge, she would be able to go out and find Sandy.

* * *

**Author's Note: **JUST ONE THING BEFORE REVIEWING! Okay, so to answer your questions, have you ever had a nightmare or a dream that seemed so real that you actually thought it happened until you realize that it didn't? Well, that's what happened with Jack. The scenario Jack had with the Guardians in the last chapter was a nightmare created by Pitch. However, Pitch made the nightmare so real that Jack actually thinks it happened…that the Guardians really kicked him out, and while Jack was busy with the nightmare, Pitch kidnapped him and brought him to his lair to turn him into his Nightmare Prince. I was originally going to have Jack wake up and at first refuse Pitch's offer to join him only to have Pitch transform him regardless, but I figured since Jack is a strong character, it would be easier for Pitch if Jack was still asleep when he is transformed because he is already broken and vulnerable.

Also, one other thing, as you just read, Jack is not a nightmare stallion or a fearling (from the books). I've been reading the books and noticed how Pitch has tried to turn several children into a "Fearling Prince" or "Fearling Princess," which I'm assuming is different from a fearling and a nightmare. But like other authors, I decided to use "Nightmare Prince" so it goes with the fact that Pitch used Nightmare Stallions in the movie and because Pitch is the Nightmare King. So, as a Nightmare Prince, as you can tell, Jack is able to think for himself, but his thoughts and actions are influenced by fear and darkness, much like Pitch. Okay, that's all for now. Onto other business. If you have any other questions about this, just PM me and I'll be happy to respond.

Oh, boy! It looks like North is in trouble! Let's hope that Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy can get to him in time! BTW, 63 REVIEWS! 68 FAVORITES! 109 FOLLOWERS! OMG! Guys, this is just amazing! You guys are amazing! I honestly didn't think my story would get so popular so quickly! Thank you so much to anyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed this story! Did I mention that you guys are amazing?! I think I did, but who cares?! You guys are amazing!

Sorry, just wanted to get that out of my system! Anyway, be on the look out for Chapter 9! Don't forget to keep those reviews coming! Thanks again, guys!


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